THE MARK OF ATHENA Well Sorta
by mythologymaniac
Summary: This is my version of The Mark of Athena. Even though it hasn't come out yet. JASPER AND PERCABETH.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1: LEO WISHES HE WERE SOMEWHERE ELSE

HEY GUYS! THIS IS MY FIRST FANFIC EVER SO I WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF YOU REVIEW. TELL ME IF I SHOULD CONTINUE THIS STORY. I ACCEPT ALL REVIEWS, FLAMES, SQUEES, AND SUGGESTIONS.

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIANS OR THE HEROES OF OLYMPUS. I ONLY OWN THE PLOT AND ANY CHARACTERS THAT I MAKE UP.**

SORRY IF THE CHARACTERS ARE OOC. JUST TELL ME IF I MAKE A MISTAKE. :)

**LEO VALDEZ'S POV**

Oh no! Oh my dear Gods! It was coming after me I could hear it. I was breathing heavy because I have been running like there's no tomorrow (Not really. If there actually was no tomorrow I would DEFINITELY NOT spend it doing something stupid like running. I would probably be eating the biggest bag of chips known to man).

That monster was getting closer, I could almost feel the anger and hatred of the demon creature behind me. Gods, I was a dead man. Scratch that. I was a good-looking, smart, funny dead man. I was entering the treacherous forest boundaries of Camp Half-Blood. Great, I thought, now I can go and get mauled by some other monster. Well it sure as Hades would be a better death than the one waiting behind me. I saw a little tree and ducked behind it. Oops, it was a dryad. "Shhh," I whispered to it. It gave me an evil eye but I ignored it. I closed my eyes and tried to slow down my breathing. Think happy thoughts Leo, you're going to be fine, I told myself. All of a sudden I felt a knife to my throat.

I slowly opened my eyes and sure enough there it was. Piper. Damn, there was no getting past this girl. She, being the daughter of Aphrodite, was looking stunningly beautiful as always despite the fact that she was wearing ripped jeans and a camp t-shirt. Her chocolate brown hair was in her signature braid and she had a simple heart locket around her neck. I glanced at her face. Her mouth was set in a scowl. I didn't really want to make eye contact but I guess I had to. I couldn't tell what color her kaleidoscope eyes were but I knew for sure that she was going to have her famous murderous glare in her eyes, the one that says I HOPE YOU ALREADY HAVE YOUR WILL WRITTEN. I was generally the one that these glares were aimed at. In second comes the girls that looked at Jason.

"Hey, Pipes," I said weakly.

"Don't you dare try to sweet talk me Leo, or I WILL slaughter you," she said putting as much venom in her voice as possible. Wow, that girl was so scary I almost peed my pants. Almost. She could kill you and you probably wouldn't even mind because she can look gorgeous while doing so. I would ask her out but there are a few things holding me back. One, she is my best friend, so no can do. Two, she kind of already likes another guy. And three, she would probably cut my tongue off after teaching me a nice lesson about being a player by using a spear. Also she's kinda mad at me right now...

"Leo, why would you help my cabin get rid of my clothes? All I have left now are tiny dresses, really short skirts, and some REALLY revealing shirts. Oh, and let's not forget the shoes. Dozens and dozens of heels. Gods, it gives me a headache just thinking about it."

"Puh-leeze, Beauty Queen, you don't really mind. I know that on the inside you are jumping for joy. Maybe now Jason will ask you out." I really regretted saying that once it escaped my mouth. I was really hoping she wouldn't kill me. Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas is to not die. Also, I would not mind a girlfriend. Preferably one that goes by the name Thalia. Oh, yeah, back to reality.

"Why you little-" she started but she was cut off.

"WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON HERE?" I heard Annabeth's voice come from somewhere behind me.

"Nothing," I said, "Just some, um, training. You know, like, swish, swoosh."

"Leo, shouldn't you be working on the Argo ll?" Annabeth asked raising her brow.

"Um, yeah, so I'll be going now," I said slowly creeping away.

"Wait, not so fast," Piper said pushing me against a tree. Hard. I think she was about to rage at me.

"Piper, let him go," Annabeth ordered, although she had an amused look on her face.

"Fine," Piper said. She let go of me reluctantly, but not before giving me another glare and a slap on the back of my head. I ran off into my cabin to avoid another encounter with the deadly Piper McLean.

**PIPER MCLEAN'S POV**

Gods, Leo just gets on my last nerve sometimes. Doesn't that kid know that brains are meant to be used? Probably not. It was bad enough that my cabin was in on it, but Leo too? I swear one day I really am going to snap. Leo should probably be planning his funeral right now.

To be honest, I think Leo should be in the Hermes cabin instead of the Hephaestus cabin. He displays more of their traits then Hephaestus cabin's. Other than that fire at will thing.

What was I going to wear now? I was definitely NOT wearing what was currently in my closet. I was so lost in thought I wasn't really paying attention to where I was walking so I bumped into a tall figure. I wasn't really in the mood to be polite, so typically I started to yell at whoever it was.

"Hey, watch it, you..." but I trailed off because I looked up and saw the electric blue eyes of Jason Grace staring at me.

I AM SORRY IT'S SO SHORT BUT I PROMISE TO UPDATE SOON IF YOU LIKE THE STORY. I JUST WANT TO KNOW IF I SHOULD CONTINUE! Happy Valentine's Day. Even though i don't really celebrate it or whatever.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO: THE ARGO II GETS READY TO SET SAIL

HEY GUYS! I REALLY DON'T KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE READ MY STORY BECAUSE NOT MANY PEOPLE REVIEWED :( Okay tell me what you think of my story. Like it? Love it? Did it have any effect on you? Am I now your mortal enemy for being a terrible author? I don't know, that's why you have to review and let me now what you think! I can't become better if you don't tell me what I am doing wrong! I'm sorry I accidently updated the same chapter twice!

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PJO OR HOO, RICK RIORDAN DOES. I ONLY OWN THE PLOT AND ANY CHARACTERS I MAY MAKE UP.**

**PIPER'S POV**

Okay. Calm down Piper. Oh, no. I can't calm down if he's looking at me. I knew I was blushing. Gods, I was so stupid. Jason probably thought I was a psycho, randomly raging at people.

"Oh, sorry. I was, uh, having a really bad day thanks to your buddy, Leo," I tried to explain to him. Wow I totally sounded like an idiot. I noticed he was wearing a camp t-shirt and black shorts. His eyes were so intense and blue. His blonde hair was looking as cute has ever. As was he...

"No, it's cool," he said snapping me out of my trance, "I wasn't really watching where I was going, I was sorta daydreaming about-" But he stopped abruptly and his cheeks flushed a dark pink color. What was he daydreaming about? Was he getting his memory back and remembering his old girlfriend? Oh no, thats probably it.

"So what were you daydreaming about?" I asked. I was really curious now.

"Um, nothing," he said avoiding eye contact with me, "Maybe I'll tell you some other time."

"What's wrong with now?" I blurted out really fast. Well, that was embarrassing. I looked away from him.

"Well, I just thought that I'd keep it a secret for a while," He explained. Even though I wasn't looking I could tell he was smirking. He wanted to keep me in the darkness and keep thinking of what he possibly could have been thinking about.

"So anyways, what did Leo do to you?" he asked. If he was going to keep secrets, so was I. Two can play that game.

"I don't know. I think I'll it a secret for a while." I responded.

"But-"

"No buts. I'll tell you later. Bye,"I said waving my hand at him and walking away. Now I was the one with a smug look of victory on my face.

Then Jason jogged up to me and said, "Well played McLean, well played." he flashed me a stunning smile. I smiled back at him.

Just then Thalia popped out of the Big House. She was wearing a black jacket along with jeans and combat boots. She had a thick layer of eyeliner on to compliment her bright blue eyes. Her dark hair was as spiky as ever. When she saw us she frowned. "Jason, my little brother, you are a helpless flirt. Piper would never fall for you. She has the mind of a Huntress. Which, reminds me, Piper you should join the Hunters. We really need a strong warrior like you. You know there is a silver bow and a dozen arrows with your name on it, it's just sitting there waiting for you to claim it."

I took a peek at Jason. He ran his hand through his hair. I noticed he did that when he was nervous. He was blushing in a deep scarlet color, but he still looked really cute. There was no doubt that I was flushed the same shade, if not darker. I was feeling bad for Jason so I started to say, "Thalia, we weren't-" but Jason cut me off.

"Yeah, I wasn't...I mean, um, we... um, weren't flirting," he said trying to defend himself.

"Okay," she said but her face said something else.

"And Thals, about the Hunters..." I looked at Jason. He had a horror-stricken face just at the thought of me saying yes to becoming a Hunter. I really don't know why, but it made me happy to see that, "I won't be joining the Hunters, not today. But, thanks for the offer anyways." I saw Jason relax and heard him let out a sigh of relief.

"Fine, I guess," she grumbled, "But, Pipes, I guarantee that one day you'll want to join, but if that day's not today, then that's your loss. By the way Jason, Chiron wanted to see you in the Big House."

"What for?" Jason asked.

"Do I look like I know?" Thalia snapped, obviously mad that I didn't accept her offer. Then she stormed off mumbling something under her breath. I caught "Jason", "Piper", and "blackmail". Uh oh. That can't be good.

Jason glanced at me. I read the look on his face and it was something along the lines of "Thalia has gone crazy and there's a chance that she needs mental therapy". Of course, if Thalia saw his face she would probably hit him in the eye. With a chainsaw.

"I guess I gotta go, see you later Piper," he said walking away.

" Okay, later Sparky," I said grinning.

He looked back at me and scowled, "You know I hate that name, right?"

"Do you think I don't know that? Why do you think I use it?" I asked. He shook his head in disbelief and shot me a crooked smile. I think my heart just melted. Yes, Jason had that kind of effect on me. I walked away to my cabin whistling a happy tune and grinning like crazy.

**JASON GRACE'S POV**

As I was walking to the Big House all I could think about was Piper. I was really glad she didn't figure out what I was daydreaming about earlier, I thought as I ran my hand through my hair (I tend to do that when I'm nervous. I hope Piper didn't notice that). That would have been really embarrassing (a/n Oooh. What was he thinking about?). And then Thalia had to come along and ruin everything. I hate older sisters.

I didn't know if I should tell Piper what I had been thinking about. I really think our friendship is important and I wouldn't want to lose her. Err, I meant lose our friendship. Not Piper, she doesn't matter. I mean, she does matter... okay I honestly have no idea what I mean. I am so confused right now. I doesn't help that I have amnesia.

I didn't really have all of my memories back, but I had some fuzzy visions. I remembered some names like Hazel and Reyna. Reyna. I wasn't really sure how I felt about that one. There was one other. Octavian. I knew for sure I hated that name because it sends a shiver down my spine every time I heard it.

I had reached the doors to the Big House. As I stepped in I saw Chiron in his centaur form. He had his back turned to me so I said, "Chiron, did you need me for something?"

He turned around and replied, "Yes I did Jason. I was just going to let you know that the Argo II will be completed tomorrow. You should probably plan out a strategy with the other cabin leaders so when you land you are not attacked." (a/n Ugh. I hate how Chiron is so OOC, but I couldn't seem to get his character right) I took this in while looking into his eyes that were filled with thousands of years of experience.

"Yes, sir, I will get right on that," I told Chiron.

"You are dismissed now Jason," he said to me.

"Thank-you, Chiron," I said as I left the Big House. I looked around for Leo. Maybe he was in his cabin. As walked to the Hephaestus cabin, I saw Piper throwing some clothes out her window. I wonder what that was about. I waved hi to her and she waved back.

I knocked on the door of the Hephaestus cabin. Some kid with dark curly hair and soot on his face opened the door. Typical Hephaestus kid trait.

"Is Leo in there?" I asked him.

"Yeah, he's hiding under covers, over there," he said pointing to a corner in the cabin. Why was Leo hiding under the covers? I walked over to his bed and poked the lump underneath a blanket. I heard a squeak of fright from Leo.

"Leo, you okay man?" I asked him, my voice filled with with concern, but to be honest I was genuinely amused.

"Jason is that you, bro?" Leo asked with caution.

"Yeah," I answered, trying to hold back laughter. What was so terrifying that the big, bad Leo was reduced to nothing. Normally Leo was full of confidence. Actually, he bursting with it, you could even say he was cocky.

"Good, I thought you were Piper," he said coming out from under the blanket. Piper? I guess Leo saw the confused look on my face so he said, "She kinda wants to kill me. Like, really badly. I played a prank on her and it was HILARIOUS!"

"What did you do?" I asked him. I wanted to know why she didn't tell me before.

"I took all her-" but he stopped looking at me suspiciously, "Wait, you're probably her spy sent to test me. I'm not telling ANYTHING!"

"Leo, I'm not her spy," I said calmly. Jeez, this kid needs a psychologist.

"I'm still not telling you, there's a chance your lying," Leo replied. Wow, talk about paranoid.

"Leo, I came to talk about the Argo. So stop freaking out," I said. He instantly looked calmer.

"Oh, in that case... what's up?" he asked me cheerfully. Gods, what was I going to do with this kid?

"We're leaving tomorrow and I need to call all the camp leaders to a meeting. Tell all of them if you see them. I need you and Piper there to help me." I told him. He mumbled something under his breath.

"What? I didn't catch that," I said to Leo. He smiled innocently at me.

"I didn't say anything. Jason, I think you're losing it," he told me. That's weird. I thought I heard him say "You only need Piper". I guess I heard him wrong.

"Okay, well, see you in an hour," I said to Leo, walking out of his cabin. I walked outside but I stopped. Standing in front of me was Piper. She was pointing Katoptris at me and there was rage in her eyes.

OKAY I REALIZE THAT THE SECOND HALF OF THIS CHAPTER SUCKED AND THAT THIS CHAPTER WASN'T THAT LONG. I'M EXTREMELY SORRY. BUT I'LL WRITE ANOTHER CHAPTER SOON IF I GET REVIEWS. ALSO I'M SORRY IF THE. CHARACTERS ARE OOC. BUT I HAVEN'T READ TLH IN LIKE, A YEAR. I'LL TRY TO READ IT AGAIN. IN THE MEANTIME, YOU SHOULD REVIEW. :)


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3: THE MEETING

OKAY, I AM GOING TO APOLOGIZE BEFOREHAND BECAUSE I KNOW THIS CHAPTER IS GOING TO SUCK. SO, **I'M SORRY.** IT MIGHT HAVE TO DO WITH THE FACT THAT I'M SICK AND CAN'T THINK STRAIGHT. THIS CHAPTER IS **REALLY CONFUSING, BUT IN THE END ALL WILL BE REVEALED.**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PJO OR HOO. RICK RIORDAN DOES. I ONLY OWN THE PLOT.**

**JASON GRACE'S POV**

Gods, what did I do now? When Piper saw me her eyes softened a little. But only a little. She still looked really enraged.

"Oh, Jason, it's you. I thought you were Leo." she said through gritted teeth.

"Am I ugly enough to be mistaken for Leo?" I asked jokingly. She smiled at that but I could tell it was strained. Then the color drained out of her face as she realized something.

"Piper, what's wrong?" I asked, worried.

Then she started to look mad again.

"Did Leo tell you?" she questioned. I was REALLY confused now.

"Tell me what?" I asked. My head hurt as I tried to figure out what was going on.

"Oh," she said nervously, "Nothing, nothing at all" Well, that obviously wasn't the case.

"Come on tell me," I pestered.

"Fine," she said reluctantly giving in, "There was a part two to Leo's prank. I only figured out about five minutes ago, and part two is way worse than part one."

"What was part two?"

"Leo wrote something on my cabin walls." she explained to me. I was still confused.

"What did he write?" I asked, curious to know. Piper turned red and looked away. She started to shuffle her feet and twirl a stray strand of hair with her finger. That was very unPiper-like. What did Leo write on her walls that was so bad she couldn't even tell me? I was about to open my mouth to repeat my question when Leo walked out of his cabin.

"Hey, Jason what's making all the noise out here?" Then he saw Piper and his face was instantly flushed with fear. He turned around and tried to run back inside but the door happened to be locked. He pounded the door and unsuccessfully tried to turn the doorknob. He let out a sigh of defeat and turned around to face Piper who was filled with fury.

**LEO VALDEZ'S POV**

Jeez, just my luck. Of course the door wouldn't open when I needed it to open the most. For example, there is a crazed woman with a knife trying to murder you.

Piper had that murderous glare in her eyes again, but this time was a hundred times worse. In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have written what I wrote on her walls**.(a/n Confused? Read the AN at the top).**The only reason I had come to my cabin in the first place was because I figured Piper would find out about part two. I had a felling that she would...

A. Slice my head off  
>B. Drop-kick my butt all the way to Tartarus<br>Or C. Gouge out my eyes and strangle me with my own optical nerve

"Leo, I'm going to cut off your arm and use them to slap you, right after I skin you alive," She threatened menacingly. Oh, that's better than option C. Oh, wait, no it isn't.

"Piper, I'm sorry. If I knew you were going to rage at me like this I would have never done it. You should really see a doctor about your anger issues," I suggested. That probably made it worse.

"You think you can get away with writing..." she paused for a brief moment as she glanced at Jason, "... THAT on my walls? If you did, then you are delusional." Jason had been silent the entire time. He looked really confused watching Piper and me fight. I chuckled mentally. If only he knew. **(A/n I bet you guys are confused too. It's okay, have patience and by the end of this chapter all will make sense).**

I may have looked amused on the outside as well because Piper lunged at me. Jason, thank the gods, came to his senses and stepped between us. Good, Piper would never hurt Jason. I wish I could say the same for me.

"Hey, guys lets calm down now." Jason said trying to stay calm himself, "Leo extinguish yourself please." I looked down and saw my hand on fire. Oops. Wait! I could have just burned the door down and avoided this entire mess. Oh my gods! I'm a son of Hephaestus. I could have just used my abilities to open the door. I guess I can't think straight when there's a person who wants to murder me standing behind me.

"We have a meeting to go to in about forty-five minutes and you two better be there," Jason ordered us. He had a pained expression on his face, like he was trying to think about what had just happened. Yeah, I'd have a headache too, if my two best friends were arguing over something that I had no idea about.

"See you there Jace," I said as I sprinted past him and Piper. I kept running until I saw Thalia. I stopped and put on a charming smile. What? I couldn't help it!

"Hey Thalia," I trying to make my voice deeper, "What's going on?"

"Go away Leo," she said without even glancing at me, "I've got things to do. Things that don't involve you." Ouch, she just dented my pride. It's okay, I can repair it later by flirting with a new girl. The ladies just love the LEO-NATOR.

"But Thalia, you and I are meant for each other. You can't stop fate," I told her. Of course, she didn't listen.

"Valdez, I have to get ready for the meeting. You better not follow me around or I'll get the Hunters to kill you. Understand?" she ordered me. Wow, the Graces sure are demanding. Its all good. I like it when Thalia's feisty. Then again, she's always like that. So I guess that means I always like her. See that? That's logic.

Well, I guess I should work on the Argo for half an hour until the meeting starts.

PAGE BREAK

Okay, so I made progress on the Argo. Sorta. I was heading over to the meeting at the Big House and as I stepped in I saw all the counselors in a heated discussion. They all stopped when they saw me.

"Leo, you're half an hour late," Annabeth said. Oops.

"Uh, sorry, I was working on the Argo," I explained, "So... What did I miss?"

"I was trying to tell everyone that we may be attacked when we land. There is no knowing what the Romans will do," Jason told me.

"I know Percy, and he would do everything possible to prevent a fight between us," Annabeth countered.

"But, what if he doesn't remember?" Jason asked, "I only remember small bits and details, what if it's the same for him?" Annabeth got really quiet after Jason made his point.

"Annabeth, you know Percy's trying his best right now. He always does what's right," Travis Stoll said trying to comfort her. Jeez, I didn't know that either of the Stolls could be so deep. I didn't even know this Percy guy, but apparently he was a hot shot around here. He was all these people had talked about for eight months.

"Okay, anyways, if they do attack we should have a back-up plan," Piper suggested.

"Yeah," I said, "Like we could sacrifice something."

"I would nominate to sacrifice you Leo, but they might take that as an insult," Piper said, daring me to fight back.

"Really, McLean? Is this about the prank?" I asked her. I was starting to get angry now. It wasn't even that big of a deal.

"ENOUGH!" Jason shouted. I guess he had had enough of Piper and me fighting. Also, it may not have helped that he had no idea what we were fighting about, "Leo, Piper, you need to solve this problem because it is driving me crazy not having any idea what's going on and then watching you fight. Leo, tell me what you did."

"I, well, I took all of Piper's normal clothes and her cabin replaced them with ones she would never wear in a lifetime," I told Jason as Piper shot me an evil eye.

"Was that part one Leo?" Jason asked. He didn't look angry now, he looked... Curious. I nodded my head. He continued, "What was part two? What was written on Piper's walls?"

"None of your business, Jason," Piper told him. She sent me a look that said "If you tell him, you are toast" and not the kind of toast with peanut butter and jelly if you know what I mean.

"Well, actually it involves him, so it's his business too," I said. Why can't I think before I speak?

"What?" Jason asked me. His voice was demanding now. To be honest, I was a little scared.

"Uh, I said it involves you," I was really pushing it now.

"What did the walls say Leo?" Jason asked sternly.

"Well, when we were on our quest a couple months ago, I was keeping watch while you and Piper were sleeping. Piper was talking in her sleep and she said something I probably shouldn't have heard. Now, I used that against her and wrote what she said all over her walls," I explained to Jason.

"What did Piper say in her sleep?" Jason asked me.

"Don't tell him Leo," Piper said softly. Oh gods, she was charmspeaking me. Jason had natural power in his voice though, and I almost told him. Then again, Piper was a really powerful charmspeaker and I was tempted to keep my mouth shut.

"Tell me Leo!" Jason demanded.

"No, don't Leo!" Piper pleaded.

"Yes, Leo"

"No!"

I thought my head was about to explode. I could only take so much pressure. Suddenly I blurted out words without thinking, "Piper said 'Jason, I love you' in her sleep!"

OOH, I ENDED THE CHAPPIE WITH A CLIFFIE! ACTUALLY, I JUST NOTICED THAT I DID THAT WITH MY PREVIOUS CHAPTERS AS WELL. WEIRD. ANYWAYS **I HAVE A NEW STORY GOING UP** SOMETIME THIS WEEK. IT IS ABOUT THE CHILDREN OF PERCABETH, JASPER, LEYNA (MAYBE), AND FRAZEL. **REVIEW PLEASE!** I WOULD APPRECIATE IT. AGAIN **SORRY** THIS CHAPTER SUCKED.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR: WE LAND ON A GOD

OMG, I WOULD JUST LIKE TO THANK YOU GUYS FOR ALL THE REVIEWS, FAVORITES, AND ALERTS. THAT INCLUDES MY OTHER STORY AS WELL. DO YOU GUYS REALLY LIKE MY STORIES THAT MUCH, OR ARE YOU JOKING? WHATEVER, I HAD NO IDEA WHAT I WAS DOING WHEN I WROTE THIS CHAPTER, SO YOU'LL HATE ME AFTER THIS. ANYWAYS, HERE'S CHAPTER FOUR.

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PJO OR HOO. RICK RIORDAN DOES.**

**JASON GRACE'S POV**

What? I looked at Piper. She looked like she was ready to die. Was I hearing things, or did Leo just tell me that Piper said she loved me? It seems that Leo suddenly found an interest in his shoes once I glanced at him. Piper opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She looked at me and then at Leo. I saw a drop of water slide down her cheek. She wasn't crying was she? In the eight months that I had known Piper, I have never seen her cry. Why would she cry anyways? She doesn't even like me. Does she?

"Ahem," Annabeth said breaking my train of thought, "I think that problem was solved. What concerns me is that it may have started a new conflict."

When she said that her eyes flickered to Piper and then to me for the briefest second.

I didn't want to look like I had been phased so I said, "Yeah, so back to our previous conversation."

"I think that we should just fly there, but stay prepared, you know, just in case," Piper said softly, looking as though she was trying to get past what had just happened. That was so not like Piper. She was fiddling with her fingers. Gods, she looked so beautiful.

"Good idea," I replied, not making eye contact.

Leo nervously glanced at Piper, looking genuinely sorry. Then he turned his head towards me and then back at Piper. He nervously started to chew his lip. He opened his mouth to say something, but to spare Piper, I interrupted him, "You are all dismissed to go pack. Be ready to leave at seven tomorrow."

Everyone got up and left except for Leo. It took Piper a few seconds to realize what was going on. When she saw that everyone was leaving she got up and bolted for the door, but I ran up to her and grabbed her shoulder.

"Piper?" I asked in a whisper. She didn't turn around, instead she shook my hand off her shoulder and walked off. I grabbed her by the wrist, "Piper," I pleaded, waiting for her to turn around. (a/n cliché moment, right?)

She slowly stepped back to face me. Her eyes were brimmed with tears. What was going on with her? Maybe if she actually liked me it would make sense, but she doesn't.

"Jason," Leo said unexpectedly, "When I said that Piper loves you I meant... like a brother. Right, Piper?" I looked at her, waiting for her to confirm this. I didn't want her to like me. She would be so much happier with someone else. Someone who deserved her...

She slowly looked towards Leo, and I saw him nod his head slightly.

"Yeah, Jason it's true. And I got upset when everyone thought I loved you, because I didn't," Piper told me, her voice cracking when she said my name. She seemed to emphasize 'I loved you'. I know I had just said I didn't want her to like me, but it hurt me to hear that she truly didn't like me. Maybe it was because I love her...

"Um, okay then, I guess that we should go pack for tomorrow. See you guys then," I said as I walked past Piper. I didn't look back as I walked to my cabin. I thought about Piper as I walked, breathing in the night air. She didn't like me, but I liked her. What was I supposed to do about this? I wasn't going to tell her after what had just happened. The only solution I could come up with was to forget about her. I didn't know if I could do that though. Seeing Piper everyday is what keeps me going.

Did Piper not like me because she likes someone else? Who am I kidding? Piper wouldn't like me anyways. If she did then I would have noticed.** (a/n actually, Jason, you wouldn't because you're a guy, and guys never notice)** My throat got tight, and I felt my eyes tearing up. I ran into my cabin and shut the door before someone could see me.** (a/n I'm sorry that I made Jason all emotional and stuff, but I needed it to come up with a problem)**

Whatever, if Piper didn't like me, then I needed to get over it. From this day on, I am not in love with Piper McLean.

**_PIPER MCLEAN'S_ POV**

I was trying to hold myself together in front of Leo. In reality, I felt like I had been run over by a truck. I didn't want to lie to Jason, but I just couldn't tell him the truth. I couldn't let him know how much I really loved him. Now he was going to think of me as his friend for the rest of his life. Gods, I was such a loser.

Leo was standing awkwardly next to me, probably not sure what to do. He patted my back, trying make me feel better. If he had tried to comfort me when I wasn't in an emotional state of trauma, I probably would have slapped him so hard, his cheek would be red for a week. I wasn't mad at Leo anymore, I honestly couldn't care less. I had more important things to worry about.

"Pipes, I'm going to let you have some alone time," Leo said walking out the door. I was left standing in the Big House, all alone, thinking about Jason.

He didn't even like me back, yet I still loved him. What was wrong with me? Jason would never- could never- like a girl like me. There was only one thing to do: get over him. I would never think of him ever again. From this day on, I am not in love with Jason Grace.

**LEO VALDEZ'S POV**

Man, I really screwed things up this time. Piper and Jason were really close to being a couple and I totally ruined it for them. I opened up my cabin door and walked to my bed. I fell asleep hoping that a magical rainbow dinosaur would visit Piper and Jason and make them forget what happened today.

PAGE BREAK

I got up this morning with high spirits, as I normally do. Then I remembered what problems I had caused yesterday, and became depressed. Typically, I forgot to pack, so I had to scavenge my drawers for clothing like a mad man.

All my clothes were dirty, but that never stopped me from wearing them before, so I threw them into a duffel bag. I also grabbed my tool belt and a comb. I shoved a pair of shoes in my bag and bolted to the door. I was already late and I had to steer the Argo.

All the cabin conseulers were already there, along with some extra campers and the Hunters. I saw Piper looking impatiently for someone. I realized that someone was me when she saw me and angrily said, "Leo, you idiot, we've been waiting for nearly an hour. What took so long?"

"I had important stuff to do," I said, defending myself.

"Whatever, let's go," she said, walking aboard. She seemed better today... almost as if yesterday had never happened. As if she had been visited by a magical T-rex...

I saw Jason and I ran over to him, "Hey, Jason. What's going on?"

"Nothing," he replied, "Just going over a checklist **again**, since it took you so long to get here."

"Sorry, I had duties to fulfill," I told him.

"Un-hun," he said disbelievingly, walking aboard. He was acting like that incident yesterday never happened. My wish came true! They were visited by a magical dino! This is awesome! I walked onto the ship thinking of all the wonderful things I could ask the all-mighty dinosaur for. (**a/n Incase you guys don't get it, Jason and Piper choose to forget each other and what happened yesterday, but Leo thinks the 'magical dino' did it all)**

I went through a mental checklist, making sure that all systems were ready for lift-off. I started to guide the Argo off the ground. Once we were in the air I set the ship to auto-pilot. I didn't worry about mortals seeing us because the Mist would hide the ship. We were going to be flying until tomorrow morning.

I walked into the galley for some lunch. I saw Piper, Thalia, and Annabeth sitting at a table, talking about Percy. I walked in nonchalantly and put some toast in the toaster.

"I still can't believe that Hera would do this. Percy means everything to me," Annabeth said to Piper and Thalia, "I'm so nervous. What do I do if he doesn't remember me? What if he does remember me, but has another girlfriend?" She looked like she was about to hyperventilate.

"Calm down, Annabeth," Thalia said, reassuringly, "I will whoop his butt if he's been flirting with another girl."

I walked to the table, pulled out a chair, and sat down next to Thalia. She rolled her eyes, got up, and sat next to Piper. She's totally into me. I just know it.

"Leo, shouldn't you be steering a ship right now?" Thalia asked me.

"Nope," I answered, grabbing an apple off a plate on the table, "I installed an auto-pilot, that's called smart thinking," I told her tapping my temple.

"Leo, you just burnt your toast," Thalia said, smirking at me. I looked back, and sure enough, there was a thick black cloud coming out of the toaster. It smelled almost as bad as my socks after training. Almost.

I grabbed a glass of water that was on the table and threw it on the toaster.

"What burnt toast?" I asked Thalia, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"If there's no burned toast, then eat the bread in the toaster," She had a victorious smile plastered on her face.

"Fine, I will," I said confidently. How bad could it be? I pulled the toast, or what was left of it, out of the toaster. It was pitch-black and looked like coal. I slowly put it into my mouth and took a bite. The second after that it was all over the floor. I had spit it out so fast, it was faster than the speed of sound. That was the worst thing that I have ever tasted in my life. I heard Piper and Annabeth giggling behind me, but Thalia wasn't giggling. She was literally rolling on the floor laughing. I didn't think it was ROFL material, but apparently, Thalia did.

Jason walked in with Travis and Conner Stoll. He saw Thalia on the floor and said, "I though you were a donkey, Thalia. What was so funny that you had to laugh hard enough for me to hear you from two floors down?"

"Leo... ate... burned... toast and...spit it... out," she managed to say between fits if laughter.

"O...K?" Jason looked like he was considering sending Thalia to mental therapy, "So what have you guys been doing?" Jason asked Annabeth and Piper.

"Nothing," they answer in unison.

"I'm going to go play a movie, so you guys can watch and stop bugging me," I told them, "While you do that, I'll wash out my mouth for two hours with soap." Thalia started laughing again at that. I don't get it, it wasn't even that funny.

So they watched a movie in the lounging room, while I went to the washroom to try and rinse the revolting taste out of my mouth. I searched through my duffel bag to look for my toothbrush and toothpaste. Wait... did I remember to bring my toothbrush? Omigods, I can't believe I forgot my toothbrush. What was I supposed to do now? I walked over to the lounging room.

"You guys, I forgot my toothbrush so-"

"You're not getting mine," Jason told me, his eyes locked on the TV screen.

"Ditto," said Piper, reaching for some popcorn. I walked back to the kitchen. It didn't even matter. The taste of toaster ashes had now been permanently etched into my tongue. I decided to find somewhere to take a nap. Maybe I could ask the magical dinosaur in my dreams for new taste buds, because these ones have been trashed.

PAGE BREAK

"LEO!" I woke up in a daze. I heard many people screaming my name.

"What?" I yelled back.

Piper stepped into the bedroom which I had fell asleep in, "You idiot! We need to land RIGHT NOW!"

"What?" I looked at a clock on the wall. It was eight o'clock. I had slept for nearly fourteen hours. What had happened? Maybe the effects from eating ashes.

"Go NOW, Leo, or we'll crash!" she screamed at me. I sprinted into the bridge and turned the auto-pilot off. I took the steering wheel in my hand and aimed it down. Jason, Annabeth, and Piper had followed me into the room.

They started to yell orders at me.

"Shut up guys I need to concentrate. I don't think the Romans will greet us with open arms if I land on top of them," I told them.

"Leo I really hope you don't offend them. There's nothing we can do with your face, but try to give a good first impression," Piper said. I made a face at her.

"I take offence to that," I told her keeping my eyes on the ground.

"Good, that was the point," She said. I ignored that and tried not to land on the hundreds of people below us. There seemed to be a lot of damage on the ground below us, like they had just been through a war. As we got closer I saw that they were all armed. That can't be good.

I tried to land near an open field but it wasn't that easy. There were so many buildings in the way. I eased the ship down and we had a smooth(ish) landing.

"We need to make sure they don't attack when we step out," Jason warned us.

"We could dress as aliens and say that we come in peace," I suggested. Nothing could beat that idea.

"...Or we could have Jason step out first and show them we don't mean to start a war," Annabeth said.

"That's a good idea," Piper commented. I still liked my idea better.

"Let's go," Jason said, stepping out of the bridge. Piper, Annabeth, and I followed.

Jason stepped off the ship cautiously, while we stood behind him. The Romans looked rigid and ready to fight so I said, "We come in peace, I'm sorry we are not dressed as aliens."

"Leo!" Piper warned me, slapping the back of my head.

"Ouch, calm down, Beauty Queen. I landed this ship perfectly, they have no reason to attack," I told her.

"I do not agree, you foolish _graceus_," I heard a voice say from behind us. I looked down and saw a statue head talking to us, looking highly unamused. I screamed. What? If you saw a talking statue what would you do? Then again I've fought giant monsters and all.

"Terminus?" Jason asked.

"My goodness, Jason Grace. Back now are you?" the statue head named Terminus questioned.

"Uh, yeah," Jason answered smarty.

"Well, your curly haired friend there landed on my statue and took my head off. I don't appreciate it," Terminus said, glaring at me.

"Terminus, you've got hundreds of other statues, why does it matter if one is gone?" Jason asked.

"I am a GOD! I just defeated a giant! I think I deserve a little more respect," he grumbled. Oh my gods! I just landed a ship on the god of annoyance! I'm in so much trouble.

"Oh, shut-up Terminus," I heard a voice come from the crowd. Then a guy with jet-black hair and sea green eyes stepped out of the crowd.

THERE YOU GO, AN EXTRA LONG CHAPTER TO MAKE UP FOR NOT UPDATING SOON. I'M PROBABLY NOT GOING TO UPDATE FOR ANOTHER WEEK BECAUSE I HAVE SOOOO MUCH HOMEWORK THAT I NEED TO FINISH. AT LEAST THE CHAPTER DIDN'T TURN OUT TERRIBLY HORRENDOUS. I THINK. REVIEW!


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER FIVE: REUNIONS

I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO UPDATE LATELY AND I'M SORRY. A LOT HAS BEEN GOING ON IN MY LIFE LATELY. STUFF INVOLVING DEATH. PLUS I TYPED UP THIS CHAPTER TWICE BECAUSE I'M STUPID AND I COULD NOT FIND THE DOCUMENT ON MY COMPUTER. ANYWAYS, I'M NOT GOING TO BORE YOU WITH MY LIFE STORIES, SO HERE'S CHAPTER FIVE.

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PJO OR HOO, RICK RIORDAN DOES. I OWN ONLY THE PLOT FOR THIS STORY. **

**PIPER MCLEAN'S POV**

I watched as a very good-looking guy stepped away from the crowd. He was almost as attractive as Jas- I mean... nobody. He had black hair and eyes. He was wearing a purple toga, and if you ask me, he looked like he would rather be wearing something else. This must be Percy Jackson.

I looked over at Annabeth, but she wasn't standing next to me anymore. I scrunched my brows together in confusion. I looked back at Percy, but I couldn't see him because there was a blonde girl standing right in front of him. Annabeth? How the Hades did she get there so fast?

"Percy?" Annabeth asked him in a shaky voice, like she was trying to hold herself together. She slowly reached for his face with her right hand.

"Jeez, Annabeth you look like you've seen a ghost, it's just me," Percy said. Leave it to a guy to ruin a moment that has the slightest possibility of being romantic. Annabeth looked angry now. She seemed totally oblivious to the fact that Percy still remembered her. She punched Percy in the arm and crossed her arms.

"Ouch!" Percy yelped.

"I'm sincerely apologize for the fact that I haven't seen my boyfriend for nearly nine months!" she yelled at Percy. This is what anger looks like people.

"Okay, that's the Annabeth I know... and love," Percy said smirking. Okay, I have to admit, that was a really cute 'aww' moment. Annabeth's eyes softened as she gave Percy hug. Percy hugged her back, but he looked a little awkward. It might have to do with the toga.

The entire camp had watched their little reunion. I mean, who couldn't? I saw a really pretty girl with dark hair and dark eyes wearing a toga very similar to Percy's. She was eyeing Jason suspiciously. I was about to tell her to back off but I stopped myself. Why do I care? I shouldn't care. I was over Jason.

Jason seemed to sense someone watching him and he turn his head in her direction. When his eyes met her's, they were filled with recognition.

"Reyna," he whispered under his breath. Unfortunately, I was close enough to her her name and it filled me with loathing and hatred. I mean... It filled me with joy. Yeah, that's it.

"Romans," Percy said in a loud, clear voice, "these are people from my camp, Camp Half-Blood. They are my campmates, my friends, my family. And I think one of your camp members is aboard, so... it would be appreciated if you didn't attack."

Then the dark haired girl, Reyna, cleared her throat and commanded in a strong voice, "Seize fire and drop your weapons, they mean no harm." She was obviously a leader in this camp. Then she glanced at Jason and they shared a silent conversation. Then Jason nodded slightly. Despite the fact that I was completely over Jason, my gut bubbles with anger.

Jason stepped forward, where he could be seen to the entire crowd, "I, Jason Grace, have returned to Camp Jupiter thanks to the help of the Greek camp. They will not harm us, I am sure of that, so if you could treat them with hospitality, like they have treated me, it would be appreciated." As soon as he finished speaking the crowd broke into a roar of cheering. Jason was that important here? I saw Reyna and Jason exchange silent words through their eyes. I loathed her. I mean, I think she's wonderful.

A girl with curly black hair stepped towards Percy and Annabeth and she tapped Percy on the arm. He turned and looked at her, "Oh, hey Hazel."

"Ahem," she said impatiently, pointing to Annabeth and then to us.

"Oh, uh, right. Annabeth, Hazel. Hazel, Annabeth," he replied. Was he always this slow? He was the Hero of Olympus for crying out loud. Hazel and Annabeth shook hands. Then he looked at Leo and me and got a very confused look on his face, "I actually don't know who these two are."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "Percy, this is Piper," she said pointing to me. I waved hi.

"Nice to meet you Piper," he said to me, grinning.

"You too. The idiotic goof standing beside me is Leo," I told Percy. Leo was too preoccupied with the statue named Terminus to notice what was going on. I thought I'd do him a favor, so I kindly elbowed him on the ribs.

"Ow! What was that for?" he asked, rubbing his side.

"Let's see, the Hero of Olympus is standing in front of you and you are obsessed with a statue head," I said raising my eyebrows at him questioningly.

"Excuse me miss, but I am a highly respected God and I do not care for the tone of voice you are using to describe me," the statue head said in a voice that was quite rude if you ask me. If he had arms I'm pretty sure he would be crossing them right now.

"Sorry... sir," I said in apology.

"That's much better. Now go away," he said looking away. O... K?

Percy spoke then, "Oh, yeah. Leo, I remember you from that message you sent us."

"Yeah, that's right, I Leo the almighty have come to help save the world," Leo said confidently, puffing out his chest.

"Did I mention he has a big ego?" I asked Percy. Percy chuckled. I was serious about his ego though. It was large enough to grow a head and become its own being.

"Offensive much?" Leo mumbled. I just rolled my eyes. Honestly, when it comes to Leo, you shouldn't bother trying. The girl named Hazel just starred at Leo in shock. What was up with her?

I heard a voice in the wall of people, "Excuse me, can I get through. I need to get through people. Excuse me," I saw a tall, muscular guy walked up to Hazel. He image was ruined by a baby face. He looked my age, maybe a bit younger.

"Oh, guys this is Frank. Frank, Leo and Piper," Percy introduced us. Frank just stood there staring at us.

"Frank," Hazel hissed, gesturing towards Leo and me.

"Oh, hi," he said offering his hand. I shook it and then Leo did the same. Were all guys like this?

While Leo and I had been introduced to Percy, Hazel, and Frank, Jason and Reyna had being talking in low tones. What were they talking about?

"Jason, come here," Annabeth ordered. Jason walked over to her, Reyna right behind him, "This is Percy, and Percy this is Jason."

"Hi, I've heard a lot about you," Jason told Percy, "According to your camp, you're a really powerful demigod. It seems like my camp thinks so as well," Jason said pointing at the toga.

"Oh, thanks, and do you want this back? It isn't really my style," Percy said.

"No, keep it. I don't think I should be praetor without all my memories back," Jason replied sadly. Then he smirked, "But your right, it's definitely not you style."

"I'll say," I commented, "I don't think it will ever be your style."

"Piper's a daughter of Aphrodite," Annabeth told Percy.

"Really? I would never be able to tell. She's not wearing any make-up, she has a weapon, and she's not wearing heels. But she is very pretty," Percy said grinning at me. I smiled back. Annabeth smacked Percy.

"Ow, that hurt!" Percy whined.

"I'm standing right here, Percy. You really shouldn't be telling a girl she's pretty, even if she is beautiful," she said winking at me. Then her smile dropped, "Wait, Percy, when you said that hurt, did you mean it?"

"Yeah, you've got an arm on you," Percy said jokingly.

"But, you're indestructible. You bathed in the River Styx and you have the Achille's curse. How is that possible?" Annabeht asked, worried.

"To come here I had to walk through the Tiber River, losing my invincibility. But it's okay, my awesomeness is still very much alive," Percy told her.

"Whoa, dude, that's awesome! You used to be indestructible? I wish I was invincible, so every time Piper hits me I don't feel a thing!" Leo said excitedly.

"To bad you aren't," I said. I smacked his head to prove my point.

"But if I was, I wouldn't have felt a thing right now!" Leo said. I saw some smoke coming from his hands.

"Oh my gods, he's on fire!" Percy said with wide eyes. There was a river next to us and some of the water from it was moving towards Leo. Was Percy doing that? Just as I was thinking that Percy made a movement with his hand towards Leo. The next second Leo was drenched, and I had just had to laugh at that.

"Percy, Leo has the ability to manifest fire at will, but sometimes when he gets excited that happens," Annabeth said between giggles.

"I didn't know!" Percy protested, "I though he was actually on fire!"

"It's okay Percy," I told him, "That was the highlight of my day." Leo just glared at me.

"Can I get somewhere to change?" he asked Frank.

"Yeah, this way," Frank showed Leo, Hazel following them.

"Um, so guys, this is Reyna," Jason said to us.

"Hello, I'm Reyna and you are..." she said glancing at Annabeth and me.

"I'm Annabeth, daughter of Athena, and this is Piper, daughter of Aphrodite," Annabeth told her. She nodded her head.

"Okay, so you've probably had a long... flight here, so I'm going to let you rest," Reyna said to us.

I wasn't really sleepy though. I bet Leo wasn't either, the kid had slept for fourteen hours, "If you don't mind, do you think we could train instead?"

"Of-of course," she said. She seemed baffled by the fact that a daughter of Aphrodite, or Venus, wanted to fight. I grabbed Katoptris.

"Who wants to spar with me?" I asked them.

"I will," Percy volunteered. Great, the Hero of Olympus wanted to fight with me. This is going to end well.

OK, HOPE YOU LIKE IT. I WILL TRY TO UPDATE SOON. REVIEW PLEASE. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE ACTUAL BOOK IS GOING TO BE LIKE. I AM PROBABLY REALLY OFF BUT WHATEVER. REVIEW PLEASE.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX: THE SEVENTH DEMIGOD

HEY GUYS, SO YOU'RE SENDING ME LOTS OF REVIEWS AND THEY ARE ALL POSITIVE (Except one, but that was totally my fault. I forgot that Jason didn't know Frank and I've changed it now)THAT MEANS MY STORY IS GOOD RIGHT? ANYWAYS, THAT MADE ME HAPPY. CHAPTER SIX, AT YOUR FINGERTIPS.

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PJO OR HOO, RICK RIORDAN DOES. I ONLY OWN THE PLOT. **

**PIPER MCLEAN'S POV**

You know what I said about Percy being slow earlier? I take it back. What he lacks in common sense is made up for in physical attributes.

I had been holding my end though. We had been fighting for ten minutes, we were breathing hard and sweating lots. He obviously had more experience than I did. Every time I attacked he would block it. The only reason I hadn't lost yet was because I was using my swiftness to dodge all of his attacks. I was using my knife so I had to get really close to attack him.

I saw an opening near his ribs, so I lunged. It's to bad Percy blocked it. He hit Katoptris with so much force that it went flying onto a building.

"I win," Percy declared with a puff.

"I call a rematch," I insisted.

"Okay, get your knife... and give me five minutes to catch my breath. You nearly winded me, Piper," he said taking a seat on the ground.

"So I have to climb the building to get Katoptris?" I asked.

"Yup, that's Venus' shrine, so have fun," he told me. Awesome, I get to be King Kong. Please note my sarcasm. This is just great, "I would pray to your mom, there might be a chance you won't break your leg."

I started to walk over and as I did I sent a silent prayer to my mom. There were lots of places to step and the building was only two stories high... it's a good thing I'm not afraid of heights. I easily grabbed my knife and I stuck it in my belt.

I couldn't really see were I was stepping when I was going down. I was NOT jumping down.

Suddenly, I heard Percy scream my name, "PIPER!"

I was falling. My footing had slipped under a piece of moss. Do you know the one thing that I thought as I fell? I'm dead. I closed my eyes and sent another prayer to Aphrodite/Venus.

I slowly opened my eyes. I was in the Underworld, I just knew it. But there was a lot of light and I was in the arms of an angel. Since when did Hades get angels in the Underworld? But this angel kinda looked like...

"Piper, are you okay?" Jason asked, really worried. Oh, so it wasn't a real angel. I looked down and saw the muddy ground. Typically, he would be the one to catch me. He was holding me in his arms, bridal style.

"Uh, yeah, I think," I told him. Gods mom, when I said help me I meant without involving Jason. My mom just had be the goddess of love...

Percy ran over to us, "That was quite a fall, Piper. You okay? Should I call Annabeth to check on you?"

"No, I'm fine, don't need Annabeth," Actually, I may need her. But she would probably yell at me for being clumsy.

"Uh, Jason," Percy said stifling a laugh.

"Yeah, Percy," Jason asked confused.

"You can let Piper down now," he said trying to keep a straight face.

"Oh, right," Jason said, gently letting me down. I'm pretty sure my face was a deep scarlet color. I know Jason's was.

"Um, thanks for catching me," I told him awkwardly. I was supposed to be over this guy, yet when I looked at him I got butterflies in my stomach. I kept telling myself it was because I had just fallen down two stories, but I knew it wasn't true.

I saw Hazel running over with a first aid kit. That was fast, "Piper I saw you fall, are you okay?" Ugh, everyone was trying to help me, I didn't feel right, I could handle it myself.

"No, I'm good. Percy, come on, round two," I told Percy, taking a step forward. As I did my legs gave way and I tripped. Naturally, Jason caught me. Jeez, talk about damsel in distress.

"Piper, I think I should show you a room to rest in," Hazel said. I don't think I should argue with her, "Jason, Percy, do you mind?" she asked them, gesturing towards me.

"Can do," Percy said, supporting my left side. Jason supported my right side, supporting me awkwardly at that. I tried to lean towards Percy more than Jason, but it wasn't that easy. They led me to a small hut and laid me down on a bed.

"Rest well, Piper," Percy said. Then he mumbled to himself, "Time to train with Annabeth."

"Bye Piper," Jason said closing the door. I smacked myself in the forehead. Why couldn't I stop thinking about him? I tried to think of anything else while I was falling asleep. Despite this, I had dreams about a certain guy with blonde hair and electric blue eyes.

**JASON GRACE'S POV**

I was beating myself up on the inside right now. I had made the mistake of looking Piper in her multi-colored eyes. I don't regret catching Piper when she fell, if I didn't who knows what would have happened to her? But I do regret falling for her. Again. The irony is, that when I fell for her the second time, she happened to be falling. For the ground. It gave me a heart attack when I saw her dropping from the sky. I swear I stopped breathing. Lucky for her I had been walking to my dad's shrine, which was near Venus'.

I know I had told myself I wasn't in love with her. I lied. To make it even more complicated, Reyna is back in my life. Whenever I saw something from my life, I regained memories about it. Like when I saw Reyna I remembered her but... I think of her as a good friend, and she thinks of me as more than a friend. My life is just that awesome.

To top it all off, if Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood were going to fight together, we needed another demigod. But the thing is, right now there are six demigods; three Roman demigods, three Greek demigods. The seventh person will upset the balance. This could cause war between the two camps. So, if we were planning to go to Rome, we would need another demigod, according to the Great Prophecy.

I felt bad for Percy, he's now been in two Great Prophecies. Most demigod live their lives without even living at the same time that a Great Prophecy takes place. He's probably under a lot of pressure now. I know I am.

As I was thinking that, I ran into Percy, "Hey, Jason, do you want to spar? I was going to spar with Piper until she, you know, fell out of a building. Nice catch by the way," he said smirking, as if he were sharing a joke with himself. Whatever it was, I don't get it.

"Sure, I'll fight. You're going to lose though," I told him, getting my game face on.

"In your dreams," Percy fired back. Then we started. I lunged but Percy dodged it.

"So, who do you think that the seventh demigod is?" I asked him blocking a strike to my leg.

"Could be anybody. Maybe someone we don't even know," he said trying to hit me on the head.

"But there's a good chance that its someone really skilled and experienced," I told him, ducking and rolling as his sword pierced the ground.

"Do you think it's Reyna?" he asked.

"Could be," I said as our swords clashed. We fought for another thirty second, but then Percy stopped mid-strike. He had the sword halfway between my ribs and himself. I looked at his face and the was pure fear in his eyes, "What's wrong?"

He slowly withdrew his attack, "What if it's Annabeth?"

DID YOU LIKE THIS CHAPTER? I HONESTLY HAVE NO IDEA IF IT'S ANNABETH, BUT I'M GONNA SAY IT IS. WHAT DO YOU THINK? REVIEW.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN: WAR GAMES PART ONE

ALRIGHT GUYS, CHAPTER SEVEN. NEARLY FIFTY REVIEWS! I HAVE A QUESTION. ARE ANY OF THE CHARACTERS TOO OC? I TRY MAKING THEM AS CLOSE TO THIER PERSONALITIES AS POSSIBLE, BUT I'M OBVIOUSLY NOT RICK RIORDAN. BUT I READ THE BOOK AND NOW THE CHARACTER PERSONALITIES ARE FRESH IN MY MIND. I'LL PROBABLY STILL SUCK AT IT THOUGH...

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PJO OR HOO, RICK RIORDAN DOES.**

**LEO VALDEZ'S POV**

Okay, so I'm dry now and I feel better. People see a little smoke and automatically assume that I'm on fire. The fact that I can create fire never even crosses their minds. I caught a glimpse of Percy's powers, right before I was doused by a couple gallons of water.

"Hey, Leo ," I heard someone say. I looked around and saw Percy walking towards me.

"No more water!" I screamed while cringing. I covered my face with my arms in defense.

"No! I'm not going to do that again. I sincerely though you were on fire," he said.

"Oh, in that case..." I said. This was kind of awkward.

"Yeah, sorry about that by the way. I have a problem," Percy said. He was coming to me with his problem? He didn't even know me.

"Uh, so what is it," I urged him to continue. To be honest, Percy was kinda intimidating.

"I think Annabeth may be the seventh demigod in the prophecy. It makes sense doesn't it?" Percy asked. He was talking to himself really. I was getting a feeling that he asked me to listen so people didn't stare when he's walking by them, talking out his problems to himself. I know from experience that people tend to look at you weird when you ask yourself questions out loud. Don't judge me, when you work long hours on a ship, surrounded by nasty fumes, you become temporarily insane.

"Dude, not seeing the problem. Annabeth's all ninja and stuff, so what are you worrying about?" I asked him. What was wrong with Annabeth? You'd flee for your life if you ever saw her fight.

"You don't get it, what if something happens to her? What if she can't defend herself?" he looked really worried.

"You know she would kick you butt if she heard you say that," I told him.

He smiled at that, "Heck yeah, she would," his smile dropped. "But... never mind."

I could tell he cared a lot about Annabeth. The same way I care about my tools. Okay, that wasn't the best comparison.

"Percy," I had to ask him a really important question, "Do you know where I can get something to eat?"

"Yeah, follow me. Make sure you watch out for Arion, though. He's Hazel's pet and he doesn't like meeting new people," he said sternly.

"Oh, what type of animal is Arion? A cat?" I asked hopefully. Please don't let it be a dragon. Last time I rode a dragon, it crashed. My little robotic dragon, Festus, was smashed to bits by lasers. Okay, maybe he wasn't that little, only about sixty feet.

"Arion's a flying horse," he answered. Sweet! I want one! "You are lucky you don't understand horse, he needs a couple pounds of soap to wash his mouth out with. Seriously, his favorite word is-"

But Percy didn't get to finish because a grand horse had stopped by Percy's side and hit him on the top of his head.

"Ow," Percy grumbled, rubbing the back of his head.

The horse let out a series of neighs. I didn't understand a word, but I could tell the weren't compliments that made you feel like frolicking in a meadow.

"You take that back!" Percy yelled at the horse, "Where did you learn words like that? You're a horse for crying out loud!"

Arion neighed in triumph and walked away.

Percy yelled as he galloped into the horizon, "I'm telling Hazel, then you won't get any dessert!" That was a good comeback Percy. It truly was.

Someone grabbed me from behind and my first instinct was to call for help. But I didn't because I was supposed to be a heroic demigod. That would be like Superman needing assistance. So I decided to go killing machine on them.

"Hey, you, watch it, I got mad skills," I threatened.

"Shut up, Leo," I heard Annabeth say irritably. Oh, good, it wasn't some pyscho with a chainsaw, "Get in the building." She said as she pointed to a small... hut? If you could even call it that. It was in ruins like most of the camp.

"Okay, but that better be the kitchen," I told her. She rolled her eyes and when to retrieve Percy who was still calling to the horse who was long gone.

I got in the hut and there were about a dozen other people there, sitting at a rectangular table. I recognized a couple of them like Jason, Piper, that girl named Reyna, some guy named Frank and another girl named Hazel.

"Sit down, Leo," Reyna said. I just noticed, but that girl looked mighty fine.

"Can do," I said taking a seat across from Piper. I sat down next to Hazel. She kept looking at me weird so I decided to divert my attention elsewhere. Annabeth and Percy walked in and sat down on my left.

"We are here to discuss the Great Prophecy," Reyna started, "It is quite clear that six demigods have been chosen for the prophecy, but we need one more demigod."

"Okay, so who's going to get me a sandwich?" I asked. Anyone who didn't know me looked at me intently for about ten seconds. They were probably trying to decide if I was joking. I wasn't.

Then Jason spoke, "Please excuse Leo. He doesn't always use common sense. But he has a brain... I think."

I shook my head like,_ I cannot believe you just said that._ That comment hurt my feelings. Then I said, "Dude, I though we were buddies, but now I'm officially making Piper my best friend."

"Er, thanks for the offer," Piper said, "But, no" Fine, Piper, be that way.

"Anyways, continue, Reyna," Annabeth said.

"Wait, let me get this straight I'm not getting lunch?" I asked. What were they going to do if I died from starvation?

"LEO!" Annabeth, Jason, and Piper yelled in unison. Okay, I think I'll shut up now.

"So we need a seventh demigod, and since I am willing to sacrifice myself, I will do it," A scrawny boy said from the other end of the table.

Someone told me his name earlier. It started with an 'O' I think. Oh, got it, "Your name's Oblivion, isn't it?" I asked him.

Percy and Frank burst out in laughter, while Jason and Hazel were covering their mouths to keep the laughter from escaping. Even Reyna, the serious girl, was struggling to keep a straight face. What did I say wrong?

"It's Octavian, boy! How dare you mock my name?" Octavian growled. He didn't look that menacing. Did he have fluff in his hair? That's just weird.

"Leo, this is Octavian, the augur," Percy explained once he calmed down. Then he muttered something under his breath. It sounded like 'panda murderer' but I think I heard him wrong because there aren't any pandas in Rome or San Fransisco. Excluding the zoos.

"I swear I didn't know, man. It was a mistake," I told him, in defense.

"You shall pay for this, son of Vulcan," he threatened.

A cyclopes ran through the door. I'd be lying if I said I didn't scream a little when he ran towards me. He grabbed Annabeth and started to strangle her.

"Annabeth," I said loudly.

Her response was, "Tyson, you're crushing me."

I'm not Tyson and I wasn't crushing her. Was she talking to the cyclopes?

"Tyson, I think you should release her so she can breathe," Percy suggested to the cyclopes named Tyson.

"Oh, I just miss Annabeth so much!" Tyson exclaimed.

"Nice to see you too, Tyson," Annabeth said between deep breaths.

"Uh, we were kinda discussing something, Tyson. Could you, ah, leave for a while?" Percy asked Tyson.

"Yes, brother, I will walk now. Ella and I find Mrs. O'Leary," he said while walking away. Brother? Him and Percy? I don't see the resemblance.

"Can we please get back to the conversation at hand?" Octavian asked impatiently. I don't like this guy.

"Yes, Octavian, keep your pants on," Percy told him. Then he corrected himself, "I apologize. I realize you are not wearing pants. So keep your toga on."

Octavian turned red and shut up. Hallelujah.

"I believe that the seventh demigod must be a daughter of Athena," Reyna said. Percy's head snapped up when he heard this. He glanced at Annabeth. She just nodded her head like she has thought this through, which she probably already had.

"Wisdom's daughter walks alone, the Mark of Athena burns through Rome," Hazel recited. What was that supposed to mean?

"Annabeth," Piper said. Oh, I get it now. Not really.

"Annabeth, you're the last demigod," Jason said.

"I know, I thought about it earlier," she said.

"Reyna, is this okay?" Jason asked. Why wouldn't it be okay? The worst that could happen is we all die.

"What do you mean?" Reyna asked confused.

"There's an unequal balance between Romans and Greeks. I'm okay with it, but what about the camp?" Jason asked.

"I'll deal with it," Reyna said with an air of authority, "But for now, you should train. We are going to have war games tonight."

**PIPER MCLEAN'S POV**

Awesome, war games. I get to die at the hands of the Romans. I was still a little shaken up from my fall, but I guess I was okay.

I can't believe Leo asked for a sandwich in the middle of the meeting like that. Then again, he's Leo, you can't change that.

I was warming up right now with Annabeth and Percy. For some reason, I wasn't able to perform to my best ability. I guess a near-death experience can do that to you.

The war games were similar to capture the flag, except they were more violent. In my opinion at least. The Greeks that had come on the Argo II hadn't been placed in cohorts. Apparently we were being offense. All of us.

I was in the middle of a training match with Annabeth (she was just about to win) when someone tapped me on the shoulder and asked, "May I have a turn?"

"Sure," I said without thinking. I wasn't about to let Annabeth beat me. I turned around and there was Jason, gladius in hand, ready to fight.

"On second thought, Annabeth and I should finish this fight," I said turning around to face Annabeth again, "Ready to beat me. Again?"

"Piper, go," she said giving me a look of exasperation.

"No, I'm fighting with you," I told her stubbornly.

"Yeah, well, I'm fighting with Percy now, so you have no partner," she said. Then she called to Percy, "Seaweed Brain, are you ready to lose?"

"Bring it on, Wise Girl," I heard him say from a distance.

I turned around to face Jason again and he put his hands up in surrender like, _it's not my fault._ I rolled my eyes and said, "Fine, but you are definitely NOT going to win."

He smirked and got into a fighting stance, "That's what you think."

Then we started. I was doing pretty well considering I fell off a building earlier. Which reminded me that _he_ had caught me. Which in turn, made me fight harder to prove I wasn't in need of protection. Gods, why did he have to be so skilled with a sword?

I was going to win this for sure. I wasn't going to give him a reason to see me as weak. I saw his eyes calculating his next move. He made eye contact with me and I looked away. That probably wasn't the best thing to do in the middle of a fight, but whatever.

I could feel myself getting tired; I had to do something before he won. So I asked a devious question, "So, Jason, how's your girlfriend, Reyna?"

He stopped fighting and stood in shock. I managed to disarm him, but he still stood staring at me, like it didn't matter.

His blue eyes bore into my multi-colored one and I froze as well.

"What?" I asked him, "Are you going answer?"

"Reyna isn't my-" he started to whisper, but was cut off.

"Let the war games begin!"

OKAY, SUPER WEIRD CHAPTER. IT WAS SUPER BORING BECAUSE I'M SUPER STUPID. AND I'M SUPER SORRY. ALSO, I DIDN'T UPDATE FOR, LIKE, FOREVER. NOW THAT I'VE READ THE BOOK AGAIN I REALIZE THAT MY CHARACTER ARE WAY OFF. ALSO, THE BOOK ISN'T IN FIRST PERSON POV. IT'S TOO BAD. I'M NOT GOING TO CHANGE IT NOW. TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT OF THIS CHAPTER.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT: WAR GAMES PART TWO

OKAY, YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST! THIS STORY HAS OVER FIFTY REVIEWS NOW! SO, YEAH, LAST TIME I UPDATED THIS STORY I DIDN'T GET AN E-MAIL SAYING IT WAS UP UNTIL TUESDAY, BUT I UPDATED ON MONDAY. WEIRD RIGHT? SO I'M GUESSING YOU DIDN'T GET A STORY ALERT(THOSE OF YOU THAT HAVE IT FOR THIS STORY). YEAH, I DON'T KNOW WHAT WAS UP WITH THAT. ANYWAYS, MOVING ON...

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PJO OR HOO, RICK RIORDAN DOES. I DO, HOWEVER, OWN MOST OF THE PLOT.**

JASON GRACE'S POV

I can't believe that Piper thinks that Reyna is my girlfriend. I can't even explain anything to her because we had to separate for the war games. She walked away right after Reyna announced that they were starting.

The Fourth Cohort was on offense along with the Greeks and the Fifth Cohort. I was guarding the the people climbing the massive wall that the Third, Second, and First Cohorts had built. Reyna was the referee along with Percy.

I don't even like Reyna. Well, I do like her, just not that way. Actually... I might have like liked her. But that was before I met Piper. And it wasn't even a huge deal, although if I hadn't gone missing it might have been.

That isn't the issue right now. The problem is, Pip- Oh My Gods! Leo was charging at me with his hands on fire. Why the heck was he doing that? We were both on offense! I stepped out of the way and Leo ran straight past me. What was that kid doing?

It took me a second to realize that he wasn't charging, he was fleeing. Behind him was Hannibal, an armored elephant, charging the wall. He hit the wall with so much force that all I could see was a dust cloud. After it cleared up I shook some rubble out of my hair and blocked the attacks of some armed Lares. Well, not really since their weapons went right through everything, I tried just so their feelings wouldn't be hurt.

I saw Annabeth and Piper at the top of the wall. I have them a thumbs-up sign before fighting off a couple people from the Second Cohort. I saw a huge eagle swoop down and carry a body off to the infirmary. It looked a lot like Hazel, but I could have been mistaken.

Reyna was circling above us on her pegasus, Scorpio. She was focusing on the inside of the fortress. Her eyes went wide in disbelief and she called out in a loud voice, "The Greeks have won. Please gather for honors."

I couldn't help but grin. I didn't even care that my cohort had lost. I knew that the Romans would look at the Greeks differently know that they had won the war games. Especially since there are about forty people in each cohort and there were only twenty Greeks there.

Octavian, who had come out from the fortress looked at Leo with complete and utter disgust.

"They must have cheated! No graecus could possibly have beaten us!" he screamed in outrage at Leo's face.

"Dude, take the screaming down a few notches. And the saliva," Leo said, wiping his face off.

"I will never listen to you! You are not my leader!" Octavian told Leo.

"Never said I was. I just wasn't in the mood to have weirdo spit all over my face," Leo mumbled quietly to himself. Octavian was to busy raging to hear Leo's snarky comments.

"Reyna, I demand that you banish these..."Octavian ordered while looking at Leo like he was an unwanted coffee stain on a rug, "People."

"Octavian, you know very well that I can't do that," Reyna said. Then she looked away, ending the discussion. Octavian stormed off muttering curses under his breath.

"Do you guys know where Hazel is?" Frank asked.

"She's in the infirmary, Frank," Reyna answered.

"What?" he asked, eyes wide with alarm.

"She was hit in the leg with a spear. She'll be fine. You don't need to worry," Reyna told him.

He calmed down a little, but still seemed edgy. Frank was older than I was, but I could tell he looked up to me. In the few hours that I had known him, he hadn't acted like much of a leader. I wasn't sure that he was the right demigod to be in the prophecy until Hazel told me about their quest to free Thanatos.

I saw Piper standing at the side watching everybody talk. She looked at me and I smiled, but she just turned away.

Percy flew down on a pegasus and dismounted. He put an arm around Annabeth, "Good job. I think your losing your touch though, Annabeth. Piper took on just as many Romans as you did. I would expect more from the girl that threatens me on a daily basis."

Annabeth elbowed him, "Percy," she hissed.

"What?"

She gestured towards his arm.

"Oh, right," he said, removing his arm. That was a smart thing to do. Octavian was already ticked, if he had seen that he would have freaked.

"Thanks, Seaweed Brain. Piper was problem for the Romans though. She was a whirlwind with that knife of hers," Annabeth said. Piper smiled when she heard that.

"I think we can call it a night. Dinner in the mess hall," Reyna announced. **(A/N I know normally the war games are after dinner, but I totally forgot about dinner. So, yeah)**Everyone dispersed.

I walked over to Piper and lightly nudged her, "You did good tonight."

She didn't say anything at first, but then let out a sigh, "I know that."

I couldn't take it anymore. Why was she acting like this around me?

"Piper, what's going on?" I asked her, blocking her path.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Jason," she told me. Yeah, like I believed that.

"Yes, you do. You've been avoiding me. And what made you think Reyna was my girlfriend?" I asked her. That had been on my mind ever since the war games started.

She laughed, "You're kidding right? You guys know each other so well you can have silent conversations. You act like you've known each other your whole life. You know exactly what the other's thinking when your stuck in a situation. You've got a history. You're really close, like, _more_than friends close. Don't even deny it, Jason, you like her."

I was speechless. The thing was, I couldn't deny it. All of that was true. I did like Reyna, but not _that_way, "Piper, you don't understand."

"I never do, do I? Just because I'm a daughter of Aphrodite the only thing I'm good at is looking good. Right? I can't use my brain and I can't fight," she said. She wasn't angry though. She looked amused, actually.

"Piper, you know that's not true. You're smart and you obviously know how to handle a sword," I told her.

"Oh, I know. I just wanted to hear you say it," she said walking off.

I stood there and I assume the look on my face was genuinely confused.

**LEO VALDEZ'S POV**

I love this place. Have you ever eaten the food here? It's awesome. It wasn't like Camp Half-Blood where you had to sit at your cabin table. We sat on couches around tables. This way I don't have to sit with the same people that I always sit with. In fact, I sat with some lovely Roman ladies... until they told me to leave.

So I sat with Frank, Percy, Annabeth, and some kid with a Kool-Aid addiction. I would have sat with Jason and Piper, but I had no idea where the heck they were. Now that I think about it, it's weird that _those_two weren't here.

Were they together? I heard Jason caught Piper when she fell off a building. And they call me a klutz.

I saw Piper walk in and take a seat next to me. She seemed to be in high spirits.

"Where've you been?" I asked.

"Talking to Jason," she answered.

"'Bout what?" I asked.

"None of your business, Valdez," she said taking one of my breadsticks. I gave her a few choice words that would have normally gotten me a bruise in the face, but Piper didn't seem to care.

"Arion's still got you beat for cussing and cursing," Percy told me. A horse could swear better than I could? How weird is that?

Just as I was about to say something I heard a piercing scream from outside.

MWAHAHA! CLIFFHANGER, JUST BECAUSE I WANT TO! SO I UPDATE EVERY WEEKEND NOW. JUST SO YOU KNOW. EVEN THOUGH I MADE THIS TOTALLY POINTLESS CHAPTER, REVIEW!


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE: TO KILL, OR TO NOT KILL

I AM BACK WITH CHAPTER NINE, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT. BUT I HOPE YOU LIKE IT.

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN PJO OR HOO. I WISH I DID, BUT, UNFORTUNATLEY, RICK RIORDAN DOES.**

**LEO VALDEZ'S POV**

I ran outside to find Octavian with an arrow aimed at his head. Thalia was holding her bow and arrow. She saw wearing an enraged expression on her face.

"What's wrong?" Percy asked.

"This idiot, here, thought it was okay to rip open Phoebe's stuffed deer," Thalia said through gritted teeth.

"Whoa, dude. Not cool," I said, shaking my head. I had to put on a show for Thalia, right?

"Zip it, Valdez. I've got more than one arrow," Thalia threatened.

"Thalia, calm down. Point that arrow somewhere else," Percy ordered.

Thalia grumbled, but withdrew her arrow.

"Octavian's the augur. He cuts open stuffed animals. It's kinda his job," Percy explains. What type of job is that? A professional teddy bear murderer is an actual job? Sign me up!

"So why did you have to steal a deer?" Thalia questioned, eyebrows raised.

"I was checking to see if the gods agree with you being here," Octavian said with his chest puffed out.

"Well, why don't I check to see if my arrow agrees with _you_ being here?" Thalia snarled, pulling her arrow and bow out again.

"Thalia," Annabeth warned.

"Okay, but if he says one more stupid thing..."

"Leo or Octavian?" Percy asked. Ouch, that hurt.

"Either. Plus add yourself to the bunch," Thalia grinned.

"As delightful as ever, Pinecone Face," Percy said as his words were heavily coated with sarcasm.

"Same to you, Kelp Head." She had a nickname for Percy, but not for me? What about 'The boy who was on fire'? **(A/N You see what I did there?)** I didn't say anything though because I knew she wasn't kidding when she said she would spear me with her arrow.

I looked around to see if Octavian was willing to say something that would send him to the hospital, but he wasn't there...

"Hey, you guys, where'd Octavian go?" I asked. Augurs didn't get superpowers like invisibility and stuff, did they? Everyone else looked around and realized he was missing.

I heard a rustle from the bushes in front of us. Frank and Thalia immediately had their arrows nocked while Percy, Piper, and Annabeth had their weapons in their hands. This all happened while I stood staring at the bush. I probably looked really stupid.

"HELP!" Octavian screamed jumping out of the bush.

"What is it now?" Piper asked.

"Jason," Octavian said panting, "He..."

"He what?" Piper asked, worried.

"He attacked me. On purpose," Octavian told us. This is bull. Jason would never attack someone like that.

Everyone lowered their objects of mass destruction and looked at each other like_, this guy is crazy. _

"Octavian, I swear, if this is made up, you'll be taking a nice swim in a lake. Maybe with some killer jellyfish. Or a shark," Percy said.

"No, no, I'm not lying. I saw him swinging his sword around like he wanted to chop my head off," Octavian insisted.

"Trust me, we all wanna chop you head off," I said. No point in hiding the truth. Honesty is the best policy, right?

"That's twice today that you've mocked me you useless pig," Octavian snarled. Pig? I was a chicken at worst.

"Octavian, tell us exactly what happened," Frank said.

Octavian rolled his eyes, "I just did you stupid oaf."

"Octavian, word of advice, shut-up," Percy told him walking away with Annabeth.

"Why does no one believe me?" Octavian cried in disbelief.

"Because ten minutes ago you were attempting teddy bear murder. That's a federal offense you know. You could go in jail for a whooping two weeks," I told Octavian with a straight face. This guy had more issues than I did. That's saying a lot.

"Why a lady as beautiful as this," he said gesturing at Piper, "Will surely believe me." Obviously, he didn't know Piper. But I did know her. Her response would be something along the lines of 'Fat chance, fat-head'

"Of course I believe you," Piper answered simply. What? "If you could show us where Jason is, we could sort this all out."

Octavian looked pleased that someone believed him, "Of course, this way."

Thalia, Frank, Piper, and I followed Octavian through a woodsy area. It smelled like elephant dung. Don't ask me how I know. There were so many types of trees that I'd never seen before. There was some pretty weird weapons left on the ground. Romans these days...

"He attacked me right through that clearing," Octavian said pointing towards an opening in the trees. Finally, though I'm not really sure it's safe to be in the middle of a forest at ten in the night. Then again, I've been in weirder places at this time.

Frank stepped forward first. He stepped slowly like he was expecting a lion to spring out at any moment. We all followed close behind him. Well, I was close to Thalia, but whatever.

I took a good look at the clearing and saw something weird. A rope. Lying across the ground. Like it was a... "Frank stop! You'll trigger the trap!"

Too late. Frank stepped on the rope and he fell into a pit while a cage fell on top of Thalia, Piper, and me. Ocatvian was already gone.

"Gods, that scrawny shrimp is SO dead," Thalia said.

We all looked for openings in the cage and a way to get through the bars, but came up empty handed.

"Frank, hang in there, we'll find a way out," Piper called.

"Yeah, well I wasn't going to go anywhere soon," He called back. At least he was okay.

"Piper, you didn't mean what you said to Octavian, did you? I mean about believing him," I asked. I did NOT feel safe around someone who was on that weirdo's side.

"No, you idiot! I just wanted him to lead us to Jason so we could make sure he was okay. But obviously, Octavian had other plans..." Good. Just checking.

I examined the bars. They were made of steel. I might be able to melt through them... I lit up my hands and the dark woods glowed a faint red. It was even creepier when you could see everything. I grabbed one if the long metal bars and held on tight. Piper stepped next to me and realized what I was doing.

"Leo, that's brilliant!" Piper complimented, "I think that's the first time I've ever said that."

I heard someone behind me. I thought it was Thalia, but it sounded far away. Please don't be a bear. What am I saying? A bear is the least of my problems if there are monsters in these woods.

"Leo?" A voice called. It's worse than I thought, the bear can talked _and_ it knows my name.

"Jason?" Thalia asked. I stuck one of my hands out in the direction of the voice. The fire barely illuminated the face of my best friend.

"Jason! Could you get some help?" I asked.

"How did you guys in there?" he asked.

"Or you could just leave us to die in here and ask us questions that we don't really know the answered to," I said. I was nearly done with one bar. If you change the definition of 'nearly done' to 'a quarter of the way through'.

"Shut up, Leo. It was just a question," he said.

"Can you guys help me too?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, just let me get these guys out first," Jason said. He searched the outside of the cage. He found what he was lookig for, "Leo, why didn't you just undo the lock on the cage?" There was a LOCK?

I cursed and looked where Jason was standing. Sure enough, there was a lock on the door. Why had I not noticed that? I picked at it with tools from my tool belt and eventually undid it. The door easily swung open and we simply walked out. It was as easy as that.

Piper and Jason looked at each other. Piper looked like she was accusing him of something. Jason just shrugged his shoulders.

"Frank's turn," Jason said.

Jason jumped into the pit. That was stupid.

"Why'd you do that?" I asked. I saw Jason fly out, struggling to lift Frank out of there as well. He eventually got Frank on the ground and then lay down in exhaustion.

"I did it so I could do that, Leo," Jason told me. I used a few selective words to describe Jason. My reward for saying these words was a nice slap upside my head from Piper.

We were all still in the clearing when Percy and Annabeth joined us, "Where have you all been?"

"In a cage. And a pit," Thalia answered.

"We've been looking for you," Annabeth said urgently, "Something's wrong with Reyna."

A SHORT CHAPTER. THAT'S A BUMMER. I'M PRETTY SURE YOU GUYS ALREADY REALIZED THIS, BUT I'VE HAD WRITER'S BLOCK FOR THE PAST TWO OR THREE CHAPTERS. NEXT WEEK I WILL HAVE THE EXPLAINATION FOR ALL OF THE WEIRD STUFF THAT'S HAPPENED IN THIS CHAPTER. DO YOU GUYS HAVE ANY IDEAS? IF I USE YOUR IDEA YOU GET CREDIT FOR IT AT THE TOP OF THE CHAPTER.


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN: I LOVE YOU. I THINK.

HEL-LO! I'M BACK WITH CHAPTER TEN. IN OTHER NEWS... NOPE THERE IS NO OTHER NEWS. BACK TO ME WITH THE STORY.

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PJO OR HOO. RICK RIORDAN DOES. I DO OWN THE PLOT THOUGH. SO DON'T EVEN TRY TO COPY MY IDEAS. I'LL FIND YOU.**

**PIPER MCLEAN'S POV**

We all sprinted. We got lost a couple of times because Leo was convinced that we were running in the wrong direction and redirected us. I guess it was our fault for listening to him in the first place.

Ten minutes later we were in the _principia_. Reyna was lying on a table and some descendants of Apollo were trying to get some arrows out of her side. Ouch. She whimpered in pain every time they touched the arrows.

Jason was next to her in a second, "Are you okay?"

She nodded her head weakly, unable to speak. She looked like she was going to pass out. Jason grabbed her hand and looked at her with intense blue eyes. I recognized the look he gave her, because he had given me the same look multiple times before. Worry.

"Um, Reyna, it's pretty obvious that you're not okay," Percy said, "You have an arrow impaling your kidney. It's a good thing you have two."

Annabeth glared at Percy. He took the hint and shut up. Leo, surprisingly, hadn't said a word. At least he knew when to be quiet.

"What happened to you?" I asked, "Who did this?"

Reyna took deep breaths, wincing every time she did. She didn't look that great and I saw that she was struggling to keep her eyes open. She turned her head towards me and whispered in a voice that was barely audible, "O-Oc-Octavian."

Then she slumped into unconsciousness. We all stood there for a while. Jason was still holding her hand. The medics pulled the arrow shafts out and then the arrowheads. I turned away, unwilling to see the blood that was soaking her clothes.

"I think we better figure this out," Annabeth said.

"Uh, yeah, let's step outside," Frank said.

Leo, Percy, and Frank left. My feet were still planted on the ground. Annabeth was in the door way, "Piper?"

I glanced at Jason who was still at Reyna's side, "I think I'm going to stay here."

She took a deep breath, "Okay."

I'm glad she didn't argue.

I walked over to Jason. The medics were covering Reyna with bandages. Many bandages. They finished and left to pack-up.

"Piper..." Jason whispered looking at the ground, "Why are you-"

"Jason, this isn't about us. This is about Reyna. I'm here for her," I told him.

He let go of Reyna's hand and looked me in the eyes, "Piper, you don't even know Reyna. What are you trying to prove?"

To be honest, I didn't know what I was trying to prove. I kept looking at him, hoping the answer would come to me. I didn't.

"Look, Reyna is my friend. It makes sense for me to be here, but what about you?" he asked. His words sounded like they should have been filled with hatred, but instead the reflected his emotions. Sadness and confusion.

"I don't understand this- this game that your playing with me," he said.

"I'm not playing a game with you," I told him.

"Are you sure?" he asked getting up and walking outside. I followed him out. The night air was cool and fresh. The full moon illuminated the night and every star was visible. Jason looked up at the sky, examining the constellations. He stood about four feet away for me and I wished he would stand further away.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I don't know what your talking about," I said and it was true.

He looked down at me, "Piper, I'm not going to lie, I like you. A lot."

My heart fluttered when he said this. _Why_ did it do that? I don't even like him anymore. I guess my heart wasn't on the same page as me.

"But I don't know what to do because your playing with my heart. First, when we were on a quest, you say you need my help. Then you imply that you like me. You say you "love" me. Then you ignore me. You tell me that you don't like me. When I do help you look at me like it's my fault you needed to be saved. Now, you say you're here for Reyna, but you don' know her."

I took this all in. Unfortunately, this was true, "Jason, I have no idea-"

"-Piper, please just... tell me. I don't think I can take this. All these mind games are driving me crazy."

"Fine you want the truth?" I yelled without thinking. Words were flowing off my tongue. All of my thoughts that I had forced to be locked up broke free, "I loved you. Then I figured you would never like me because I'm... _me_. So I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't love you anymore. But now-now I don't know what to do because Reyna came into the picture, which I will admit, made me slightly jealous. You claim you don't like her, but a couple of minutes ago you were holding her hand. Jason, you're the one playing mind games. How am I supposed to not be jealous when you clearly love her?"

I was near tears now. Jason stared at me. He took a step forward and whispered, "But how do you feel about me now?"

I just stood there with my mouth open. How was I supposed to respond to _that_? I had expected him to yell back.

"I need to know, Piper."

I still stood there, petrified.

"Since you are temporarily muted, I should tell you something. I promised to tell you something earlier. About my daydream, remember?" he said smirking.

I nodded my head, trying to wrap my head around what he was saying. Why was he telling me this now?

He took another step towards me. I was tempted to back up, but there was a wall behind me, "This is going to sound stupid. I was daydreaming about you Piper. About us, actually. What it would be like if we... were a couple."

I'm pretty sure I stopped breathing. That can't be good for my health, "No, you can't like me. You like Reyna."

Jason looked up at the sky again in exasperation, probably praying to the gods, "Piper, I'm going to tell you this one more time. Reyna is my friend and I do like her, but not the way you think. I. LIKE. YOU."

"I don't understand."

"Gods, Piper, for a daughter of Aphrodite, you're really oblivious to love," he said. He took another step closer. He was a mere three inches away from me.

"Jason," I took a deep breath, "I... don't think- I can't- I won't-"

"-Before you say anything," he said tucking a loose strand of my hair behind my ear, "Tell me how you feel."

"I feel uncomfortable because the distance between us about two inches," I told him. It wasn't the truth; I liked how I could smell his minty breath.

He chuckled, "What would you do if I moved closer?"

"I don't think that's possible," I told him.

"Do you want to test that theory?" he asked.

"No," I said even though it took all my strength not to say yes.

"That's to bad," Jason said moving his head closer to mine. His lips just brushed mine before I pushed him away.

"Jason, don't do that," I said. My lips were tingling slightly.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"You know what. I can't do this because you like Rey-" I stopped. My eyes went wide. I pushed Jason away from me so hard that he fell down. I stepped away from him.

"A simple 'I don't like you' would have sufficed," he grumbled dusting himself off. Then he spotted the spear that was piercing the ground where he had been standing just seconds ago.

OKAY, YOU KNOW HOW I TOLD YOU THAT ALL WOULD BE EXPLAINED IN THIS CHAPTER? I LIED. ALL WILL BE EXPLAINED NEXT CHAPTER. I HAD TO MAKE THIS ONE SHORT BECAUSE I'M STARTING ANOTHER STORY. CHECK IT OUT ONCE I POST THE FIRST CHAPTER. IT'S A TWIST ON A FAIRYTALE.


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE BIG BAD OCTAVIAN

HELLO AMIGOS AND AMIGAS. READ MY NEW STORY? IT'S CALLED A PERCABETH FAIRYTALE. SORRY IF JASON WAS OOC LAST CHAPTER. DIDN'T REALLY KNOW IF HE WAS ROMANTIC AND STUFF, BUT WHATEVER. I GOT A REVIEW THAT SAID I CONSTANTLY MADE CLIFFIES. I DON'T KNOW IF 'INCESSANTLY' WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE A NEGATIVE CONNOTATION, BUT I LAUGHED WHEN I SAW IT BECAUSE I DO LEAVE A CLIFFHANGER EVERY CHAPTER!

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T KNOW WHY I HAVE TO DO THIS EVERY TIME. I DO NOT OWN PJO OR HOO, RICK RIORDAN DOES. **

**JASON GRACE'S POV**

The night air felt colder as I saw the seven foot-long spear. You know, the one that nearly _killed_ me? Suddenly, I didn't mind that Piper had pushed me to the ground. I saw Piper staring at some trees in the distance. I pushed her behind me (She, in response, stepped out from behind me).

I tore my gaze off the trees to look at Piper who was narrowing her eyes at me, "I save you from getting killed and you don't even thank me?"

"Piper, now's not the time to-" I stopped because I heard movement coming from the left of where the spear came from.

"There," I said pointing.

"I know, I'm not deaf. And whoever, or whatever, that was isn't exactly in stealth mode," she hissed.

"Do we attack, or wait for them to come out?" I asked in a whisper.

"Attack, I don't think that thing's coming out anytime soon," she answered stepping forward.

"What do you think you're doing? I'm gonna go first," I said taking a step in front of her.

"Why?"

I raised my eyebrows, "You fell off a building today."

"Freak accident. I'm fine now," she assured me as we neared the trees. Whatever was behind the tree couldn't go anywhere without us seeing it.

Piper signaled that she would attack from the left. I nodded my head and moved to the right.

"Now," Piper yelled. We both stepped forward, but we ended up standing in shock.

"Octavian?" I asked.

He stared at me with wide eyes and then made a run for it. It took Piper and me a second to realize what had happened.

"Get him!" I yelled as Piper and I sprinted into the woods after him.

I stopped at a clearing, Piper jogging in to join me, "Where'd he go?"

"I don't know," she said, "Do we split up?"

The words seemed to have a double meaning to me, "No, I don't like that idea." My words had multiple meanings as well.

"We'll never find him this way," she said.

"But your way's more dangerous. What if he has another weapon?"

Piper sighed and pointed to a small, hidden path, "Let's go that way."

We creeped along the path that was only wide enough to walk single file.

"Jason," Piper whispered behind me after a couple minutes of walking in dead silence.

"What?"

"We're going in the wrong direction."

"How can you tell?"

"Octavian's following us," she said in a low whisper. I listened to the silence of the night. I heard an owl hoot, and sure enough, there was a faint sound of footsteps behind me. Unfortunately, I wasn't talking about Piper.

I pulled her in front of me, "I changed my mind, I want to walk behind you."

She glared at me, but didn't say anything. What were we supposed to do now? We couldn't let him know that we knew where he was, but if I turned around he would know that we knew. But if I didn't turn around he could stab me in the back. Literally.

"Run?" Piper suggested in a whisper.

"Run," I agreed.

We bolted out of the woods as fast as we could, but Octavian was right behind us, maybe fourty feet away. I saw the woods fade in the distance and the Field of Mars open up in front of us.

Piper and I were both panting, out of breath. Piper's hair was all over the place, yet she managed to mantain that aura of beauty. I was sweating in the cold night, thanking the wind gods for the breeze that was blowing across the field. Rain started to drizzle onto the grass, making it harder to see.

Piper stopped and turned around to face the direction that we had just ran from, "That's enough cardio. I think it's time we beat that monsterous little weasel to a pulp."

I found it amazing that she had enough breath to speak. I was still huffing and puffing like I was going to knock a straw house down.

Octavian entered the field, his eyes wide and crazed. Did I mention he gave off an air of 'I'm gonna kill you'?

"Step aside, guys," Leo said from behind us, hands engulfed in inferno. Since when did he get here? Shouldn't he be in bed, since it's like two in the morning?

"Leo?" Piper asked in disbelief.

"No, it's Bob," he said sarcastically.

"A little help Leo?" I asked.

"Oh, right," Leo said, chucking a flaming ball at Octavian. Spheres of fire? That was new.

I could hear Octavian screaming as he ducked out of the way. The fire ball flew right past him and set some trees on fire. Awesome, now we had to deal with Octavian _**and**_ a wildfire.

Octavian stood up and even from a distance I could see flames licking the top of his head. Piper ran towards him before I could even process what had just happened.

I ran after her, Leo on my tail. We had stepped into the forest, where the fire was raging out of control.

"Nice hair, creep," I heard her say before she swing her knife, forcing Octavian to step back. He tripped over a log and landing in a rather uncomfortable position. Piper walked over, bent down, and held her knife to his neck. Octavian had no where to go.

I look up and saw that we where nearly surrounded by a fierce fire. The heat stung my eyes as I looked for an exit, without luck.

"Leo, the fire," I yelled.

"Yeah, I see it too," he said, just standing there. I could see the fire reflecting in his eyes.

"LEO! Step on the other side and find a way to extinguish it," I told him.

He nodded his head and stepped through the burning flames.

Piper was staring to panic as the flames came closer. Octavian was already freaking out. The kid was going ballistic.

Piper kept her knife to his neck, but positioned herself away from the deadly flames.

I prayed to the gods, hoping that there was someway for us to get out of here. That was the last thought that I though before I was drenched from head to toe. I don't think I've ever been that happy in my life to be choking from water inhalation.

I stopped choughing and squinted through the haze. I saw Percy, standing in his green PJ's, directing the rain water at the forest. He was officially my saviour.

I DIDN'T END IN A CLIFFHANGER! IT TOOK A LOT OF EFFOT, BUT I DID IT. WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE CHAPTER SO FAR? REVIEW!


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER TWELVE: OCTAVIAN, NEED A SHOVEL TO DIG YOURSELF OUT OF THIS MESS?

HELLO WORLD! OKAY, NOT REALLY BECAUSE ONLY ABOUT 0.0000000142% OF THE WORLD'S POPULATION HAS READ THIS. UNLESS THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO READ BUT DON'T REVIEW, FAVORITE, OR ALERT. BUT TO THOSE WHO DO REVIEW, I LOVE YOU BECAUSE I HAVE OVER A HUNDRED REVIEWS. WHOO!

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PJO OR HOO, RICK RIORDAN DOES.**

**LEO VALDEZ'S POV**

Gotta hurry, Leo. Where can you find help? I groaned, everyone's sleeping right now, what am I supposed do? Call in Poseidon for a favor? What would I say? Hey, yeah, so I set a forest on fire and two of my friends and a psychotic maniac are trapped in flames, would you mind washing the inferno away?

Um, no thanks, I prefer not to be incinerated from the face of the earth for being stupid. Well, he couldn't literally incinerate me because I'm not "flammable". One time Piper called me "flame retardant". Actually, she called me a flaming retard, but who needs details?

Wait, Posiedon... Percy! If he could drown me while I was standing a hundred feet away from a river, he could definitely stop a couple acres of burning trees. Okay, enough of the forest to keep my friends from being burned to a crisp. Like that one time I tried to make bacon... And Octavian... no one cares about him.

I spinted to the fifth cohort barracks as fast as I could. I furiously knocked on the door to Percy's temporary home. Dakota, the centurion who was addicted to Kool-Aid, opened the door, "What?" he asked groggily.

"Percy! Where's Percy?" I asked urgently.

"He's in camp, silly," he answered, starting to close the door.

"It's an emergency, I need Percy," I told him, desperste to get help.

"We all need something, buddy. Take me for an example, I need sleep. And Kool-Aid. Lots and lots of Kool-Aid..." he told me, walking back to his bed and drifting off to sleep.

I walked in and stopped at Percy's bed. I pulled the covers off the bed, but no one was there. I searched the room frantically, but came up empty-handed. Oh gods, Piper and Jason were screwed now.

I ran out of the room and called out to the night, "PERCY!"

"Get back, Valdez," a voice ordered me.

"Yes, ma'am," I obeyed, not really in the mood to die along with my friends.

Thalia stepped out of the shadows, into the night that was illuminated by the bright moon, "Why the Hades do you need Percy?"

"Piper and Jason are trapped in a fire. I need to get them out," I told her.

Her eyes went wide, "Where?"

"The forest near the Field of Mars," I told her, "Oh yeah, Octavian's stuck there too."

She either didn't hear the part about Octavian, or she just didn't care, "How'd the fire start?" she asked running in the direction of the fire.

I ran with her, but kept my distance because I needed a head start when she decided to kill me, "Well, Octavian was about to kill Piper and Jason, so I had to do something. I mean, I couldn't just stand there. If I did, they would die, which wouldn't be good for anybody because they're in the Great Prophecy. If they die and can't be in the Great Prophecy, the world will end. If the world ends, so does the human race. If the human race ends then there are no good things left on life, like potato chips and T.V. and Wi-Fi and rainbows and-"

"LEO!" Thalia screamed.

"Okay, okay. So Octavian was about attack Jason and Piper. He had this crazed expression on his face and I was like 'Whoa, what a creep!'. Then I was like 'I gotta do something'. Then I was like 'I can so totally use my powers. Then I was like-"

"LEO! You're testing my patience. Just tell me how it happened!" she screamed as we neared the field.

"I kinda sent a flaming sphere of awesomeness towards the forest," I told her. I winced, preparing for the beating I was going to get.

"YOU did this?" she cried in disbelief, catching a sight of the damage I had caused. But the thing was, nothing was on fire. Everything was steaming and charred, but nothing was still set ablaze. How did that happen? Even the rain couldn't undo the mess I had caused...

"Omigods, where's Jason?" Thalia ask as she surveyed the carnage.

I searched as well and caught a flash of green. Either there was a very large frog in the middle of a forest, or there was someone standing there helping three people up.

As Thalia and I walked closer, we saw Percy, standing in his pajamas, helping Jason dust ashes of his shirt. Piper was pinning Octavian to the ground, her face smudged with soot. Octavian was screaming in protest, his face planted into the ground, "Get off of me, you she-devil!"

Piper rolled her eyes, despite the seriousness of the situation, "Let's see, how about NO!"

"Agh!" Octavian screamed.

Piper, of course, didn't move a muscle.

"What are you doing here Percy?" Thalia asked.

"I'm grabbing a cup of coffee in the middle of the night. What else would I be doing?" he asked sarcastically.

"No, Percy, what are you really doing here?" she asked.

"I will ruin your life! Get away from me!" Octavian yelled in a high soprano voice.

"I was taking a midnight stroll, because I couldn't sleep. I saw smoke coming from the direction of the field, so I walked over to see what was happening," he told Thalia.

"Okay, but how'd the fire go away?" I asked.

"Oh, I can explain that," Piper said, grinning at Percy.

"You won't even live long enough to explain unless you get off of me right now," Octavian shrieked.

"I really don't think you're in any position to be threatening us," Jason told Octavian, walking over and pointing the deadly sharp tip of his _gladius_ at Octavian.

"So, anyways, Jason and I were about to be engulfed by flames when Mr. I-Can-Do-Anything over here comes along. He forces the rain water on to the forest, subduing the wildfire. There's no way that should have been possible, but Percy managed to do that," Piper said. I stood there in disbelief. Percy, the kid standing in his PJ's, had ended a fire that was raging out of control using rain?

Thalia shook her head and muttered, "Show-off."

Percy just grinned at her, "You're just jealous that you're not this awesome."

Thalia stepped forward with a threatening look on her face, "Really, Percy? Do you really want to go there?"

"What if I do?" Percy countered.

Thalia stuck a finger out and clouds formed above us, lightning threatened to strike at Percy as it danced around him.

"Uh, you know what? Nevermind, I take that back," Percy said with wide eyes.

Thalia smiled in satisfaction.

"Did you really think you were going to beat Thalia in an argument?" Jason asked Percy. He had a point.

"Percy can dream, can't he?" I asked Jason.

"Yeah, he can," Jason answered taking his sword away from Octavian.

"Ugh, you're gonna have to sterilize that, dude," I told Jason with a look of disgust on my face.

"Yeah, you're right," he said making face.

"What do we do about the ugly mess? Oh, and the forest?" I asked.

"Hey," Octavian exclaimed while Jason and Percy snickered. Piper was trying not to laugh as she elbowed Octavian as he tried to squirm away.

"I vote we kill him," Thalia said, shooting daggers at Octavian with her eyes.

"Thalia, let's not be rash," I said, "We need to publically humiliate him to get revenge. Jason, is there a flag pole anywhere around here?"

Jason shook his head while he laughed, "You're not going to do what I think you are, are you?"

"You guys, back on topic?" Piper said, steering our attention towards her. Octavian was still shieking in protest.

"I say we find out why this creep wanted to kill us in the first place," Piper suggested.

That was a good idea. It still came second to my public "hanging" idea, but still.

"How do we get him to the _principia_?" Jason asked.

"I can do that. Can someone get a rope around his neck?" I asked.

"Leo," Piper stared at me like I was crazy. She might be right, "We're not dragging him around with a leash."

"Aw, come on! I've always wanted a dog!" I begged. The look in her eyes was clearly telling me to shut up.

"We could just make him walk," Jason offered, "There's five of us and one of him. I highly doubt he's stupid enough to try to attack. Well, actually..."

"Stop insulting me you little-" Octavian started to scream, but Thalia put a stop to it by shoving a burned twig in his mouth. He started choking, but I don't think anybody cared.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Let's go," Percy said.

OCAVIAN'S GONNA GET IT WHEN REYNA GETS BETTER... REVIEW! TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK ABOUT THIS CHAPTER. THIS CHAPTER WAS ALL IN LEO'S POV FOR ALL THE PEOPLE OUT THERE THAT LOVE LEO. I KNOW I LOVE HIM, HE'S HALARIOUS. THEN AGAIN I LOVE, LIKE, 90% OF THE CHARACTERS.


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN: ROMANCE IN AN... ALLEY?

HI. I'VE RUN OUT OF GREETINGS, SO YOU GUYS ARE GOING TO BE BORED UNTIL I CAN THINK OF SOME MORE.

**DICLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PJO OR HOO, RICK RIORDAN DOES. I'M STARTING TO UNDERSTAND HOW DISCLAIMERS CAN MAKE PEOPLE GO CRAZY...**

**PIPER MCLEANS'S POV**

Have you ever been surrounded by flames with nowhere to go, trying to keep a maniac pinned to the ground? I suggest you try not to get stuck in a situation like that. It's not fun. Just take my word for it.

I wasn't exactly happy having to drag the sack of stupid I call Octavian to the _principia_, but I didn't really have a choice. I regret telling Leo that he couldn't tie Octavian onto a leash.

We surrounded Octavian, making sure he didn't decide to book it and leave us there staring after him. Although if we could get rid of him...

He slowed down so Leo poked him in the back, "Ouch!"

"Keep moving, you useless dirtbag," Leo prompted.

"I will, stop poking me," Octavian shrieked.

"I don't think so, buddy," Leo told him. We had reached a narrow alley in the city.

The sun was rising as we made our way to the principia. My eyelids drooped because I literally didn't sleep a wink last night. My lungs hurt from smoke inhalation and I'm pretty sure my hair looked like a mess. If someone called me beautiful while I looked like this I would slap them across the face for lying. Actually, I prefer to look like this than some glorified Barbie doll.

I must have drifted off because the next thing I knew I was in Leo's arms, "Beauty queen, get up, you're not exactly as light as a feather."

I yawned and stood up, "Sorry, Leo, I'm really tired."

"You're lucky I caught you, otherwise your head would have been shish-kebabed by that thing sticking out of the ground," he told me.

I looked back and saw a large metal axe sticking out of the ground. I really didn't want to know how it got there.

"Why don't you guys get some sleep?" Percy told us, "Thalia and I can take it from here."

"I didn't agree to anything, Kelp Head," Thalia said.

"Would you prefer that your brother faint from exhaustion? And in front if Piper too?" Percy said. His eyes went wide once he realized what he said. What did he mean by _'And in front of Piper too?_'?

Jason looked at me then looked away, but I saw his cheeks tint a light pink. I really hope that was just the reflection of the sun rising or something.

"Uh... Thalia let's go," Percy said. He and Thalia grabbed Octavian and bolted out of the alley, Octavian screamed insults and threatening to sue them. Oh, so when things get awkward Thalia's all good with dragging Octavian away? Typical.

That left Jason, Leo, and me standing in the alley alone. I don't think Percy and Thalia could have chosen a worse moment to abandon us.

"So..." Jason started. He tried not to look me in the eyes. We were back at square one. I had to remember that Jason had told me he liked me, and I was my fault because I hadn't told him how I felt. He was going to avoid me like he had done before. I couldn't blame him, I had basically rejected him. Then again I had also saved his life.

"Jason, if I'm correct, you still owe me a thank-you," I told him, trying to start a conversation. Which might not have been a smart idea considering my drowsy haven't-slept-for-twenty-four-hours state. All I really wanted to do was pass out on a comfy bed, but I had to make things right.

"For what?" he asked me.

"You would have a spear sticking out of your chest right now if it weren't for me, remember?" I asked.

"True, but we won't even be standing there if you had just admit earlier that you like m-" Jason stopped and turned his head towards Leo who was pretending be admiring the gruesome alley, but was actually listening to our conversation.

"Er, Leo, we sort of need to discuss something, but..." Jason trailed off gesturing to the end of the alley, a subtle hint that Leo needed to leave.

"Why are you pointing at a garbage can?" Leo asked.

I rolled my eyes, "He means that you should leave, Leo."

"Oh, I see." Leo said pretending to be hurt, "I'll just leave you two alone then. Who needs Leo, right?"

"Leo," I said, "You know it's not like that."

"Oh, I know exactly how it is. You two become a couple and I become a third wheel. That's how it always works in movies," Leo said walking away.

"Who said we were becoming a couple? Jason and me? Really?" I asked. Jason looked at me with hurt on his face. There was no winning with these guys.

Leo turned around and saw the look on Jason's face. He broke out into a grin and laughed, "Ha, I got you guys good. The look on Jason's face... priceless. It was even better than I thought it would be." He continued laughing his butt off.

Jason glared at him and he looked like he wanted to throw a boulder at Leo. I know I did.

"LEO!" I yelled. I was wide awake now.

"Hey, yeah. You know what? I changed my mind, I will leave. The further away from Piper I am, the safer," Leo said running away.

Jason had fire burning in his eyes, "We deal with him later, agreed?"

"Did you think I was going to let you kill him yourself? Where's the fun in that? We have to make him suffer," I told him.

"I like the way you think, Pipes," Jason complimented.

"Yeah, well..." I trailed off.

"Reyna's really strategic, too. She can think of so many possibilities and ways," Jason said without thinking. Ugh, when do guys ever think?

"Right, Reyna," I said glumly.

Jason realized what he had just said and face-palmed himself, "Piper, you know I don't mean it that way. I was just complimenting her."

"Yes, you were complimenting her. You were complimenting her because you _like_ her," I told him.

"Piper," Jason groaned, "I'm pretty sure we had this conversation last night."

"Actually it was an argument that I won," I said.

"No, I'm pretty sure I won," Jason said.

"Jason, I really need to sleep," I said forgetting that I was supposed to make things right. Right now I just wanted to get away from the awkward situation.

"Do you think that I'm not sleepy? But I know if I don't tell you what I need to tell you, I won't sleep," Jason told me with a serious face.

"Then why don't you just tell me?" I asked.

He stayed quiet and shuffled his feet a little bit.

"Well?" I 'influenced' Jason, "Continue."

"Piper," Jason said nervously. He looked me in the eyes and locked his gaze. I couldn't even turn away from his intense blue eyes. He stopped breathing and when he spoke he must have been lacking oxygen, "You look beautiful, you know that?"

So you know when I said about slapping someone across the face for lying if they told me I looked good? I couldn't bring myself to do this to Jason. When he said it, it seemed genuine and lie-free. I knew that if he thought that I looked beautiful in this state, he must really think that I was wonderful. Or he was blind.

"Is that what you had to tell me? That I look good with mud and ash in my hair?" I asked.

"I didn't say anything about how good you looked. I said you were beautiful," Jason denied.

"You didn't answer my question," I said, trying to ignore what he had just said. It wasn't that easy.

He became silent again and looked to the ground.

After a couple seconds of silence I said, "Well, if you can't tell me, can you show me then? Like charades?"

Jason smirked when I said that, "Yeah, I can show you."

He stepped closer and grabbed me by the waist, the same way he holds me whenever I fall off a cliff or something. He lips melted into mine. My mind was screaming 'NO!' but my heart didn't want to listen. I kissed him back as the voice in my mind faded away. To be honest, I was glad my heart overpowered my brain.

I could feel sparks flying. My body was tingling where ever Jason was making contact with me. I moved closer unconsciously. I couldn't think straight anymore. I was convinced this was an illusion and I was hallucinating. Could hallucinations be this heavenly?

Jason pulled apart and it took all my will to not pull him back, "Do you understand what I was trying to tell you?"

I decided that I wanted him to say it out loud. I needed to hear it. Although, I wouldn't mind him showing me what he meant again, "No, I don't understand."

Jason shook his head, "You're going to make me say it, aren't you?"

"Yes, yes I am," I admitted.

"Piper, I-I love you," Jason told me. Then he grinned at me, "Now it's your turn."

I didn't see that coming. I sighed, "Jason, I like you."

Jason feigned being shocked, "Really? I couldn't tell by the way you kissed me. You- wait! Like? Just _like_? I just admitted that I _love_ you and you say you _like_ me?"

I walked away pretending not to hear him.

"Piper!"

I waved a hand over my head without turning back, "Bye Jason. Get some rest."

Then I walked off into my room and fell asleep with visions of Jason floating in my head. I sighed. My life was about to get a lot more intersecting.

**JASON GRACE'S POV**

I had just kissed Piper. It seemed too good to be true. I told her that I wouldn't be able to sleep if I didn't tell her, but I couldn't sleep now because I kept thinking about her.

I have a feeling that I had just imagined it all because I was lacking sleep. Weirder things had happened before, so why not? I crossed this possibility out of my mind as I thought about Piper's lips on mine and the intense feeling between us as we connected. There was no way I could have imagined that. I honestly don't think my imagination is capable of that.

I thought about Reyna with arrows in her side. I winced and automatically felt guilty. Reyna, one of my close friends, was in a critical condition and I was off trying to woo Piper. What would Reyna even say to this? I stopped mid-thought as some of my memories became clearer.

That had been happening often ever since I came to Camp Jupiter. I would be walking around and when ever I saw something I recognized I would gain more of my memories. My amnesia had been nearly reversed, which was good because I was getting frusterated with my lack of memory. I probably would have snapped if I hadn't come to Camp Jupiter.

The memory that had awaken me was as strong as a slap across the face. It was of Reyna. She was working through battle stategies with me in the _principia_. We were alone discussing the pros and cons of some attacking formation. I had asked her if she like me idea and she had mumbled something that made no sense to me at the time. I had heard her say, "I like more than just your idea."

I mentally punched myself for being stupid. Reyna may have liked me. Like, 'more than friends' liked me. But, I hadn't really felt that way about Reyna. Okay, maybe for a little while when I first saw her like four years ago. But that was then and this is now. A lot has changed in four years. For example I met Piper.

I felt like ripping my brain out because this problem was giving me a headache. This should have been the best night of my life; I kissed Piper. That had been all I could think about for a good two hours, then I thought about Reyna.

I just hoped that she had gotten over me since I had left (Actually, I was kidnapped by a goddess). If not... I better buckle up for a crazy, confusing, and wild ride.

AWWWWWW! I PUT SOME JASPER IN THE STORY JUST FOR YOU GUYS! I ALSO MADE IT LONG! YOU GUYS ARE LUCKY I WAS IN A GOOD MOOD WHEN I WROTE THIS. DO YOU LIKE IT? REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THOUGHT. PRETTY PLEASE!


	14. Chapter 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: THE CHAPTER WITHOUT A NAME

I AM SO TIRED. YOU GUYS ARE GOING TO GET BORED WITH THIS CHAPTER. I CAN TELL. I KNOW I'M GONNA BE BORED. I CAN FEEL IT IN THE AIR... ACTUALLY, NO I CAN'T THAT WOULD BE CREEPY.

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PJO OR HOO, RICK RIORDAN DOES. DON'T STEAL THE PLOT OR I'LL HAVE TO DO SOMETHING TERRIBLE TO YOU. **

**LEO VALDEZ'S POV**

I had woken up this morning (It was actually about four in the afternoon) a complete grouch. Then I thought about Piper and Jason and I grinned from ear to ear. Blackmail.

They had thought that I had left them in peace, but that isn't 100% right. I had left at first, resisting the urge to eavesdrop. Eventually I gave into the temptation and walked back to the alley.

I found them standing really close to each other and I thought, 'Why didn't I bring any popcorn?'. Then Jason kissed Piper and I was like 'OMG!'.

So, yeah. I can guarantee that I'll use this against them.

I ran away before they could see me. If they had seen me who knows what they would have done. I would probably be dead right now.

The only thing that upset me was the fact that I was going to be a third wheel. If they became a couple, then I was either going to need new friends or get a girlfriend. Both options were pretty unlikely. I was the weird kid that everyone stared at unusually. Don't worry. You get used to it after sixteen years.

I walked out of my borrowed room into the sunlight. I winced as the sun pierced my eyes. Squinting, I saw that everyone else was up and going around doing their business.

"Hey, awake now are we?" I heard Annabeth ask form behind me. She was wearing her hair up and she had a pair of shorts on. She was wearing a purple and orange shirt which I assumed was to represent the unity of Greeks and Romans.

"Yessir," I yawned and rubbed my eyes.

"Leo, it's four. Everyone else has been up for like, eight hours," she told me.

"Yeah, well everyone else hasn't had a rough night. They slept in comfort," I defended.

"Rough night? Well lots of people have been investigating some forest fire. It started in the middle of the night and ended about an hour later. It's the weirdest thing," she mused.

"Uh, right, about that," I started, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Do I want to know?"

"It depends," I said slowly, "How mad will you be?"

"It depends," she said in the same tone that I used, "What did you do?"

"I may have, maybe, possibly -not saying that I did- created a wildfire with my super awesome powers," I told her, bracing for the pain.

"LEO!" she shrieked, "How could you?"

"I said maybe."

Annabeth was pacing now and she looked really worried. Surprisingly, she didn't smack me off the face of the Earth.

"We come to the new camp trying to make friends and keep peace and YOU nearly jeopardized our chances by almost setting their camp ablaze. We would be standing in ashes right now if the fire hadn't stopped! We might even be ashes!" she stopped for a second and turned to me, "How did the fire stop?"

"Uh, Percy," I said.

"Percy! He knew about this and didn't tell me!" she cried.

"Well, I'm guessing that he went to sleep once he locked Octavian up somewhere," I told her.

"Octavian?" she asked.

"Do you want the long version or the short version?" I asked.

"Long, you can explain over... breakfast," she told me.

"That's the first time I've ever heard someone want to listen to the long version," I mumbled to myself.

"Come on, let's go," she said dragging me towards the city.

**PIPER MCLEAN'S POV**

I had woken up completely and utterly exhausted. Yet at the same time I was absolutely... I can't even describe the feeling. Is there a word for when you feel so happy your head's about to explode, but at the same time you feel as light as a feather? All my worries had melted away last night. But I'm not a morning person, so I was still... irratable.

It was sunny outside today at eleven. Yes, I woke up at eleven, even though I went to bed at like, six. Five hours is enough, right? Who am I kidding? I only woke up because I need to find Annabeth. She was usually the one I had "deep and heartfelt" moments with. I need to tell someone about Jason.

I walked over to the baths to freshen up. Unfortunately, I had been tired enough to go to bed without a shower.

Once I was clean and nearly odor-free, I went to a café to buy breakfast. I paid for my delicious breakfast and sat down at a table so I could start digging in. I felt someone tap me on the shoulder.

I was a little grouchy from lack of sleep so I -may have- answered a little rudely, "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, actually, I was looking for my very pretty friend. She's a brunette, multi-colored eyes, apparently loves blueberry muffins," the person behind me said.

I dropped my delectable blueberry-filled brakfast. That person had just, kinda, described me. Whoever it was doesn't have the right to call me 'pretty'. I put my best 'you better scram' look on. I whipped my head around to tell the jerk to get lost, but instead came face to face with Jason, "Oh, I didn't know it was you."

"Did you not want me here?" he asked.

"No!" I said a little bit too quickly. My grouchiness disappeared just to be replaced with embaressmant. I felt my face heat up, "Uh, why don't you sit down?"

He took a seat across from me, "Enjoying breakfast?

"No, you interuppted me," I told him.

"Should I leave?" he asked.

I bit my tongue to keep from blurting out 'NO!', "No, you can keep me company."

"Why are you up so early, Pipes? It must have been at least six by the time you fell asleep," he said.

"You're up too," I said.

"Touché."

"Well, I really smelled and there's a chance that the stench woke me up," I told him. Not the whole truth, but good enough, "Why are you up?"

Jason looked down and I saw his cheeks flush pink, "I, uh, wanted to see if you were awake."

Aww, that was sweet.

"I was also checking up on Reyna," he told me. And it wasn't as sweet anymore. Why did he have to go see Reyna?, "She's doing worse."

Suddenly I felt bad for being jealous. I was getting ticked at the fact that Jason went to go see Reyna, but she was in the infirmary in a critical condition. I was such a jerk.

"Jason," I started, "We need to-"

"-Talk?" he finished.

"Yeah," I said.

"Finish your breakfast, I have some place that I want to show you," he grinned.

DON'T KILL ME! SORRY THAT IT WAS SHORT AND SLIGHTLY BORING. JUST TO LET YOU GUYS KNOW I ALWAYS UPDATE ON THE WEEKEND :). AND FOR MY "THE NEW GENERATION OF DEMIGODS" STORY, I DON'T THINK I'M GOING TO BE ABLE TO UPDATE. BUT I JUST MIGHT SURPRISE YOU...


	15. Chapter 15

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: ANNABETH!

YOU GUYS, YOU WILL NEVER GUESS WHAT I READ LAST WEEK! CUE THE DRUMROLL... THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE MARK OF ATHENA. I'M SQUEALING RIGHT NOW, I WISH YOU COULD SEE IT. BUT I WAS KINDA DEPRESSING FOR TWO REASONS. ONE, I REALIZED THAT I WAS WAY OFF (PIPER AND JASON ARE ALREADY TOGETHER) AND TWO, IT'S LIKE WAITING A YEAR TO EAT THE MOST DELICIOUS THING EVER. THEN SIX MONTHS THROUGH THE WAIT YOU TAKE A BITE AND REALIZE THAT YOU WANT IT MORE THAN EVER, BUT YOU HAVE TO WAIT ANOTHER SIX MONTHS. THAT WAS A METAPHOR FOR MY DILEMMA. ALSO, THE FIRST CHAPTER IS IN ANNABETH'S POV, SO I'M GOING TO BE DOING AN ANNABETH POV FROM NOW ON. YAY. ALSO, IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO READ THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE MARK OF ATHENA (RICK RIORDAN'S VERSION) JUST SAY SO IN YOUR REVIEW AND I'LL PM IT TO YOU. WOW. THAT WAS A LONG A/N.

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PJO OR HOO, RICK RIORDAN DOES AND I'M PRETTY SURE HE'S NOT A TEENAGE GIRL. UNLESS THE BACK FLAP OF HIS BOOKS HAVE BEEN PHOTO-SHOPPED.**

**JASON GRACE'S POV**

I led Piper to my favorite place at camp. Well, I'm pretty sure it was my favorite place at camp.

"Jason, can I open my eyes now?" Piper asked. I had been making sure her eyes were closed while we hiked (Well, for the most part Piper hiked, but I had to pick her up and fly us whenever we reached a steep step). I didn't want to ruin the surprise.

"Just a couple more steps," I told her. I was holding her hand while I walked over to the edge. My skin was tingling where it touched Piper's. I was hoping it was a connection between us and not just some lightning threatening to strike. Otherwise Piper was about to be fried. The term "sparks fly" didn't really apply here because it could just be my lighning powers acting up.

"Jason," Piper pleaded, "Can I please open my eyes?"

I sighed, "Piper, just wait, like, thirty seconds."

I was nearing the edge of the cliff and I stopped breathing. The view... it was-

"Beautiful," Piper breathed.

"Piper!" I accused, "You opened your eyes!"

"I couldn't stand it," Piper admitted.

We both looked over the city. It was breath-taking.

"It's so... perfect," Piper said, "A picturesque scene from a fairytale."

The city was busy and I could see every corner. I smiled at Piper's reaction, "I guess that makes you the princess."

She frowned, "Uh, no thanks. But if I'm the princess, then you're the prince."

I laughed, "Yeah, right. Prince Charming?"

She laughed with me, "Well, you are charming."

"I'm pretty sure we didn't come up here to discuss my charmingness," I said, "We needed to talk about..."

"Where we stand?" Piper offered.

I rubbed the back of my head, "I guess you could say that."

"Well, where do you think we stand?"

"That's not fair. You're the daughter of Aphrodite, what do _you_ think?" I asked.

"I think you should answer my question," Piper told me crossing her arms.

"Er, okay," I started nervously, "I think that we... are... friends with feelings for each other."

I mentally slapped myself. That was a really stupid way to put how I felt.

"So, we're... a couple?" Piper asked.

"I, uh, guess so," I said uncertainly.

"Do you think that now is the best time?" Piper asked.

"It's as good a time as any," I said.

"Even with the war going on?" Piper asked in a whisper. I had a feeling she was scared. I know I was.

"But what if we don't make it past the war? We would never be together anyways," I said quietly.

"But I know you'll be next to my side fighting, whether you're my boyfriend or not."

"Hopefully, it's as boyfriend," I said lacing my fingers through hers. I squeezed her hand to let her know I would be with her no matter what situation we were going through.

"I hope so too," Piper whispered. There was silence for a minute.

"Piper, you do realize that we could die in the next couple months. It's more likely than not."

Piper looked my in the eye, "If I'm going to die, I want to die fighting."

"Can't argue with that."

**ANNABETH CHASE'S POV**

Leo was so dead. How could he? Did he not think at all? He was almost as bad as Percy when it came to using his brain.

We had gone to a small restaurant so Leo could eat while he was explaining.

"Begin," I told him.

"From where?"

"Last night, why weren't you in bed?" I suggested.

"I, uh, wasn't sleepy?" he said.

"Did you just ask me if you were sleepy or not?" I asked.

"Uh, no?" he said/asked.

"You just did it again."

"Okay, that's not the point, so can I continue?" he asked.

"Yes, please do," I said picking up a bagel from Leo's plate.

"Okay, so for whatever reason, I was walking around in the middle of the night. I saw Piper and Jason backing up in the Field of What's-His-Face and I decide that they were in trouble. Y'know, they were backing up, they had their weapons out-"

"I get it Leo," I interrupted.

"You said the long version," he pointed out.

"I didn't think it was that long," I muttered.

"So I was like, _I gotta help them_. So I walked up and I was like, _Outta my way_. And lone behold, the ugly lump of uselessness named Octavian was standing there and he was about to kill Jason and Piper. I was all caught up in the moment and all so I was like, _FIREBALL_! It was so cool. The first time I ever did something like that, and it was awesome," Leo exclaiming flinging his food around for emphasis.

"Let me guess, the forest just happened to be behind Octavian," I predicted.

"Yup," Leo said with his mouth full of toast.

"So, why was Octavian trying to kill the two of them?" I asked.

He shrugged, "Who knows? Thalia and Percy took him to the _principia_. I think they were going to wait for Reyna to heal so the two praetors could decide what to do with the idiot. Percy told Piper, Jason and me to go to bed. So we did after they ki- I mean we wen to bed right after that..." Leo trailed off. I knew here was something he wasn't telling me, but I let it go.

"And the wildfire? How did it stop?" I asked. Even the rain couldn't have stopped a wildfire.

"That's where Percy comes in. He was like, AH, SUPERPOWERS! and he made the rain go to the forest fire and it was almost as cool as my flaming ball of awesomeness," he told me inspecting his eggs.

I clenched my teeth together. Percy and Thalia both knew about this, but they didn't bother to tell me?

"Percy is in so much trouble when I get a hold of him," I growled.

Speak of the moron and he appears before you. Percy walked into the restaurant and looked around for a table to sit at. He made eye contact with me and his sea-green eyes went wide with fear. He must have seen the enraged expression on my face. He turned around so he could bolt out of there, but he turned around mid-step, probably deciding it would be better if he didn't run from me. Smart choice; his would probably get another ten minutes of yelling and punching from me if he did.

I saw him sigh and walk over. Boy, did he have some explaining to do.

BEFORE YOU TELL ME ANNABETH'S OOC OR SOMETHING, I KNOW. SHE SEEMS KINDA VIOLENT, BUT I'LL FIX IT. SO YEAH. REVIEW PLEASE. AND IF YOU WANT TO READ THE FIRST CHAPTER OF MOA, JUST PM ME, I'LL SEND IT TO YOU.


	16. Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN: LEO NEARLY DEPOSITS HOS BREAKFAST ON THE FLOOR

SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE. I'VE GOT A LOT ON MY PLATE RIGHT NOW. I HAVE EXAMS COMING UP SO MY UPDATING SCHEDULE IS GOING TO BE OFF UNTIL JULY-ISH. JUST INCASE YOU WERE WONDERING WHY IT TAKES ME SO LONG TO UPDATE.

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PJO OR HOO, RICK RIORDAN DOES. PLEASE DON'T STEAL MY PLOT OT I'LL RAGE AT YOU. **

**LEO VALDEZ'S POV**

I saw Annabeth glaring over my shoulder and I followed her gaze to see Percy walking towards us.

_RUN_! I mouthed. I really did not want to witness Percy being slaughtered by Annabeth in the middle of a restaurant. If I did see that my breakfast would threaten to make a come-back.

Percy gave me a knowing look when he realized what I was warning him about.

"Hey, Annabeth," Percy said nervously.

"Explain," Annabeth demanded. I slid down in my seat trying to stay put of this, "Why didn't you tell me about the wildfire?"

Percy looked genuinely confused, "That not what I thought you would be mad about."

"There's something else I should be mad about?" Annabeth asked.

"No, of course not," Percy said with wide eyes. Annabeth rolled her eyes but let it go. Percy let out a sigh of relief.

Annabeth raised her eyebrow, "It was that bad?"

"Uh... no?" Percy said.

"Dude, I think you better tell her," I said, "Just a suggestion. Y'know if you like your face as it is."

Percy leaned over and whispered, "She wouldn't do that. You wanna know why? She loves me and she knows it."

Percy grinned because he knew that Annabeth could hear what he said.

Annabeth turned red, "You are so dead, Seaweed Brain."

"Whoa, Annabeth, I don't think you could be any redder," I commented because that's just the sensitive type of guy I am.

Annabeth glared at me. I retreated into my seat. 

"Percy, will you please tell me?" Annabeth asked batting her eyelashes.

"Sure," Percy said.

"Great," Annabeth grinned.

"For a kiss," Percy continued.

Annabeth stopped batting her eyelashed and frowned, "Seaweed Brain, do you honestly think that I would say yes to that offer?"

Percy thought about this for a moment and said, "Yes."

"Stupid Kelp Head," Annabeth muttered under her breath.

"What was that, Wise Girl? Something along the lines of 'I love you, Percy'?" Percy asked smirking.

"In your dreams, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Actually, yes. That happens in my dreams," Percy admitted. Ew. Excess information that I didn't need to know, "And don't call me that."

"You know you love it," Annabeth teased.

Okay, my breakfast was definitely coming back up.

"I'll admit that I love that when you admit that you love me," Percy negotiated.

Annabeth sighed, "Fine, I love you."

Perch smiled, "That's better. I love the name Seaweed Brain."

This conversation had veered way off course. I couldn't even remember what we were supposed to be talking about.

"Excuse me while I go find a garbage can to throw-up in," I said getting up from my seat.

"Yeesh," I muttered as I opened the doors of the restaurant, "That was almost as gross as when Piper and Jason flirt."

Which reminded me, I hadn't seen the two lovebirds today.

**PIPER MCLEAN'S POV**

Jason and I were next to an unconscious Reyna right now. I had convinced him to let me visit her. He was positive that I was only going there to prove something.

_"I swear to the gods, Jason, I just want to see Reyna," I told him. _

_"Are you sure?" he asked. _

_"Yes," I said uncertainly. _

_"You don't sound sure," he accused. _

_"Yes, I'm positive, can we just go now?" I pleaded. _

_He contemplated this for a minute then sighed, "Fine, let's go."_

So now we were sitting there waiting for Reyna to wake up.

"Pipes, hate to break it to you, but we've been sitting here for two hours and Reyna hasn't even twitched," Jason told me.

I sighed, "I guess we could go do something else."

"Awesome," Jason grinned, "You up for some sword fighting."

"Have I ever not been?" I asked.

"Is that a trick question?" He asked.

"Let's go," I said. Can you believe this was the guy I was going out with? My stomach flipped when I thought about this. It was going to take a while to get used to this.

SHORT CHAPTER, I KNOW, BUT THERE WAS SOME REALLY CHEESY PERCABETH. REMEMBER THAT I CAN'T UPDATE REGULARLY FOR A WHILE. REVIEW PLEASE.


	17. Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: GAEA DECIDES TO TAKE A VISIT

SORRY, LAST CHAPTER I FORGOT TO TELL EVERYONE WITHOUT A FANFICTION ACCOUNT ABOUT THE FIRST CHAPTER OF MARK OF ATHENA. I FOUND A YOUTUBE VIDEO OF RICK RIORDAN READING IT AT ONE OF HIS BOOK TOURS AND THEN I PUT IT INTO A WRITTEN CHAPTER BY LISTENING TO IT, LIKE, TWENTY TIMES. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO READ IT CREATE AN ACCOUNT AND PM OR SOMETHING. IF YOU'RE OKAY WITH JUST HEARING IT THEN TYPE SOMETHING ALONG THE LINES OF "MARK OF ATHENA FIRST CHAPTER" INTO YOUTUBE. IT SHOULD SHOW UP. I'M KINDA SAD BECAUSE I WANT TO WRITE ANOTHER STORY, BUT I'M ALREADY WRITING THREE STORIES WHICH IS HARD ENOUGH FOR ME. BUT MY IDEA'S SO GOOD...

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN PJO OR HOO. RICK RIORDAN DOES SO GO BOTHER HIM. (UNLESS IT AFFECTS HIS WRITING SCHEDULE, THEN STAY THE HECK AWAY FROM HIM)**

**JASON GRACE'S POV**

Piper and I were preparing for our deadly, dramatic duel.

"You ready?" Piper asked impatiently.

"What's the rush?" I asked smirking.

She rolled her eyes, "Just start."

"On your mark," I called.

"Get set," Piper chimed in.

"Go!" I shouted.

We began fighting; we started a syncronized dance in a cirlcle. Neither of us attacked first and we both waited for the other to make a move. Nobody even flinched.

Piper lunged unexpectedly. I was fast enough to dodge, but just barely avoid a knife in my rib. My sword made a sharp clang against her knife.

_You will lose, Jason Grace. There isn't even a sliver of a chance of victory for you. If you give in now, I may not kill you. You and your friend, Piper McLean, could live together forever. I just ask for a favour in exchange; turn in Percy Jackson. Speak a word of this to anyone and you all die. _

I dropped my sword in shock as the raspy voice, an uncountable number of years old, pierced my mind. It was, without a doubt, Gaea. And she wanted me to give up.

"I guess I win," Piper shrugged. Gaea's words keep echoing in my head, an undying echo of horror. Some how, Piper's words seemed to reflect Gaea. I could see Gaea laughing now with her eyes closed, but ready to open at any moment.

Piper noticed that I didn't say anything. The ringing of Gaea voice wouldn't stop and I didn't know how to control it. There was so much pain that I almost couldn't feel it. My head felt numb and I couldn't move.

"Are you going easy on me because we're a couple now?" Piper joked. I didn't move a muscle. Her smile dropped when she realized I wasn't kidding around.

"Jason?" she asked frantically, "Jason, are you okay,"

I gripped my head as the pain subsided, "Yeah, I'm- I'm fine."

"Don't you dare lie to me," she said. Then she asked me with concern, "What happened?"

"Nothing, Piper," I tried to convince her, but that was her forte, not mine.

"Please tell me," she begged. I know that it was killing her to not know, but I just couldn't afford to tell her.

"Piper, just let it go. It was nothing," I said.

She looked away, dropping the subject. I saw her glance at me after a couple seconds, her eyes full of worry. It may be killing her to not know, but it was killing me to not be able to tell her.

She spoke softly and said, "You want to be alone."

It wasn't a question though, it was a statement. I smiled sadly, "I'll meet you later."

She kissed me softy on my cheek, "I hope you figure it out."

How did she know that there was a problem? Was I easy to read, or did Piper just know me really well?

She forced a smile and slowly walked away. Gods, what type of boyfriend was I? I basically just told my girlfriend that I didn't want her around. I was such a jerk.

I tried to push that thought out if my mind. I would find a way to make it up to Piper.

My thoughts drifted off to Percy. Gaea wanted him. There must be a reason, she couldn't just feel picking a random demigod and going '_Hey you, I want to destroy your life'. _

I knew one thing for sure, I was not turning Percy in.

Just as I thought that, I thought of Piper and myself. We could be together and nothing would be in our way.

I thought about the two choices for so long my brain felt fried. To top it off, I hadn't made my choice.

The worst part, I couldn't even talk to anyone about this.

**ANNABETH CHASE'S POV**

I felt as light as a feather and all my worries were gone. I had spent the entire day with Percy. I had forgotten how stupid Percy could be, but I had remembered how loyal, funny, and heroic Percy was. I would never forget him because he never forgot me.

He had told me how I was the only thing that he could remember and I almost started crying. Do you have any idea how sweet that was?

He explained his quest and his new friends, Hazel and Frank. I only interrupted a handful of times.

Right now we were walking back from dinner where we had been confused for a while.

We had seen Piper sitting alone in a corner chewing on some pizza.

I asked her what was going on and she had told me that she felt like being alone today. Which was weird now that I look back on it because she's usually with Jason or at the very least Leo.

Speaking of Leo, where did he go? Percy and I were at the restaurant and I don't remember him leaving. I guess I was distracted by Percy.

"Annabeth?" Percy asked. He was waving his hand in front of my face, "You awake?"

"Oh, yeah. I was just thinking," I told him.

He snorted, "When are you not thinking."

"Here's a better question, when are you not being stupid?"

"As a matter of fact right now- ahh!" he yelled as he tripped over a log. Idiot.

"Nice to see you can prove your point," I said helping him up.

He grumbled something about the stupid wilderness as he brushed some debris of his jacket.

I laughed, "Of course, it's the wilderness' fault."

"It is!" Percy insisted.

"Percy I don't think-" I stopped though because Percy fell to the ground again... but he didn't trip over anything.

He groaned as he thrashed around in pain on the ground.

"Percy? Percy are you okay?" I screamed. What do I do? I don't even know what's wrong with him.

I jumped ten feet in the air when Percy spoke in a voice that wasn't his, "_You will kill them all, Annabeth Chase. Nobody needs to die. There is a chance that the rest may survive. All I need is for you to get Jason Grace, lead him to me and I'll let you live. You and Percy Jackson could be happy..."_

"NO!" I screamed. Tears came from my eyes as I reached down to Percy, "Percy, wake up, please Percy."

As my hand made contact with his skin I felt as though a fire had been lit on my palm. I winced and pulled back for a second before trying to wake Percy again. I had the same results.

"C'mon Percy, get up," I begged. I couldn't let Gaea take him over.

Gaea spoke once more, "_Tell no one of this,_" she hissed in that horrid raspy voice of hers.

Percy started coughing uncontrollably. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes.

"Percy," I cried with relief. I hugged him, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, what happened?" he asked holding his head. I almost told him but I remembered Gaea's warning.

I bit my lip trying to decide what to tell him, "You tripped over another log."

I helped him up again and he stumbled.

"Did I fall down a cliff afterwards because my head really hurts," he complained.

What do I tell him now? I'm not good at lying.

"No, you just hit your head against a rock," I told him holding back more tears.

Percy must have noticed because he said, "You're crying."

Why did he have to pay attention at the one moment that I wanted him to forget me? "Uh, yeah. You hit your head really hard and... I wasn't sure you were okay."

He put his arm around me, "I'm fine."

I lost all my words. I didn't deserve Percy. He was the one that was hurt and he was comforing me? That's not how it's supposed to work.

We walked back towards the mess hall in silence.

I had two choices; I could turn Jason in and be with Percy or I could ignore Gaea and get us all killed. Why me?

OKAY GUYS, I GOT THIS ONE REVIEW IN SPANISH AND ALL I UNDERSTOOD WAS PLEASE CONTINUE (Por favor, continue). JUST TO LET YOU KNOW, I CAN ONLY READ IN, LIKE, THREE LANGUAGES. COULD SOMEONE TRANSLATE THE REVIEW FOR ME (IF YOU SPEAK SPANISH). GOOGLE TRANSLATE ISN'T OF MUCH HELP. REMEMBER TO REVIEW!


	18. Chapter 18

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: SCREAM

I'M BACK! WHO MISSED ME? EXAMS ARE OVER AND I AM **FREE! **THANK GOD! I'M GONNA REREAD THE WHOLE PERCY JACKSON SERIES! YEAH, FIRST THING I DO ONCE SUMMER VACATION STARTS IS READ. SO I'M OBSESSED WITH READING. SUE ME.

**DISCLAIMER: I'VE MISSED YOU OLD BUDDY. I DO NOT OWN PJO OR HOO, RICK RIORDAN DOES. **

**LEO VALDEZ'S POV**

I had this strange feeling that Jason wasn't feeling okay.

My first clue was when I tapped his shoulder to ask him where I could buy some pyro gear (It's probably better if you didn't ask) and he whipped around, stuck his _gladius_ under my chin, and pushed me up against a wall. He apologized afterwards and everything, but still. The guy had nearly kill me, I think I have the right to be PO'd.

Then, I sat down next to him while he was eating dinner today because I saw that he was sitting all alone, which was weird. Then guess what? He told me to move. Yeah. He told me to _move_. The nerve of this guy. But the thing was, he didn't seem angry, he was pleading for me to move. Almost begging.

And about ten minutes ago, at about nine at night, I saw him walking in the city and his eyes kept flicking around like he was waiting for someone to attack him. I was tempted to jump him just to scare the wits out of him, but I decided against it when I saw his sword at his side. Call me crazy, but getting attacked isn't on my bucket list. I was watching him from the window of a hardware shop. He must have felt someone watching him because he turned his head towards the window. He made eye contact with me for the briefest second before he ran into an alley.

So I have proof that Jason: A. Ticked someone off and is expecting an attack B. Is really paranoid or C. Is just plain crazy. The last one didn't seem likely. The first one was possible, but it seems to be more of a Leo-problem than a Jason-problem. So I'm assuming it's B, but I don't know what he's paranoid about. Maybe he's running from Piper. If she was my girlfriend, I'd be running for the hills.

What worried me was that Percy had taken a casual stroll down that alley about three minutes before Jason entered. Two minutes after that, Annabeth crept into the alley, as well, analyzing and assessing every detail on the street.

Were they holding a secret meeting without me? My curiosity got the better of me, and I walked out of the shop just to bump into Piper, sending her flying to the ground.

"Leo, I swear to the gods that you have the worst timing," she muttered as I helped her up.

"Not my fault, Beauty Queen. You should have been watching where you were going," I said.

Piper just glared at me.

"So, on your way to the secret meeting that _I wasn't invited to_?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.

Piper gave me a confused look, "Do you hear yourself, Valdez? Secret meetings?"

Okay, I admit I may have been jumping to conclusions, but I wasn't going to admit that to Piper, "C'mon, Pipes. Stop playing dumb."

Piper rolled her eyes and mumbles under her breath, "How much more thick-skulled can he get?"

"Hey, I take offense to that!" I cried.

Piper sighed, "So what made you think I was off to a secret meeting?"

"Percy, Annabeth, and your boyfriend walked into that alley, not ten minutes ago," I pointed.

"A coincidence?" Piper offered.

"I think not." I said.

"Leo, it's getting dark. You probably mistook them for some other people." Piper said.

I persisted though, "I'm telling you, they all went into that alley!"

"Okay," Piper said, "Just for your sake, we'll go check it out, but when we find nothing..."

When we walked towards the dark alley I immediately turned around, "You know what? I change my mind."

Piper peered into the alley and rolled her eyes at me, "It's fine, Leo. It's just dark."

It was more than 'just dark'. It was creepy on eight different levels. The air seemed ten degrees colder here and I could feel the eeriness of the alley. It had DEATH written all over it.

Piper crossed her arms to retain some warmth and stepped forward into the darkness.

I followed after her mumbling, "Show-off. Look at me, I'm Piper and I can do anything."

I stopped when I heard a muffled thud about ten feet to my left. I couldn't see well in the dark. I didn't know what that was, but I had the sudden urge to be within six inches of Piper.

"Leo," Piper hissed, "Take a step back. You're uncomfortably close."

"_I'm_ making you uncomfortable? What about the creepy alley?" I asked in disbelief.

"Leo, if you don't shut up, I swear I'll..."

"You'll what?" I demanded.

Suddenly, I was thrown up against a wall and a hand was choking me.

I loosened the grip on the hand, "Whoa, Piper, I'll shut up. If that's what it takes to get your death grip off of me, then so be it."

The hand released its iron grip from my neck. I rubbed my sore throat. That's going to leave a mark.

"Jeez, I never knew I was so annoying," I said. "That would have definitely shut me up. Permanently."

"Leo, who are you talking to?" Piper hissed about ten feet from my left. I'm guessing since I couldn't see a thing.

"You," I answered. The girl tries to strangle me and the. She plays dumb.

"I'm pretty sure I told you to shut up," Piper retorted.

"Uh, yeah," I said, "I got that when you attempted to crush my windpipe."

"What are you talking about?" Piper asked. "I've been, like, three feet in front of you this whole time!"

My blood went cold. Piper didn't choke me.

I almost let out a nervous laugh. So there was someone else in the dark, creepy, abandoned alley with us. Hiding in the shadows. Waiting to attack. Maybe to kill us. No big deal, right?

I'm one of the "chosen" seven, I shouldn't be scared. Obviously, my body wasn't keeping up with the program because I was shaking with fear. My legs were screaming, "RUN FOR ALL YOUR WORTH!", but my mind was telling me something else. I'm supposedly supposed to be some brave, heroic guy who isn't afraid of anything, yet some creep was scaring the wits out of me.

I hadn't said anything in a long time. Maybe two minutes, so I can see why Piper got all worked up, "Leo? Is everything okay? You better not be playing some kind of joke on me."

"Piper," I said in a voice that was barely audible, "Don't move. Don't make a sound."

I didn't give her a reason, but she must have sensed something in my voice that made her listen. Probably fear.

I stuck my hand out and a bright red flame danced across the surface of my skin. I slowly moved my hand around, searching every crevice in the alley and my hand went about a foot from Piper's face. She didn't seem to realize what was going on so I whispered, "Someone else is here. Watch your back."

Her eyes glittered with fear for the briefest second before she put on a "I'm not scared of anything" face.

Then she did something that surprised me. Even by my standards it was a stupid thing to do. She called out into the darkness, "Come out, come out, wherever you are."

"Are you crazy?" I hissed.

"I'm tired of being scared off," she said. "I just want this whole thing to be behind us."

I had a feeling she wasn't talking about the alley situation.

Nothing happened for five minutes so Piper and I trudged on, taking a right turn and then a left. We were constantly on guard and ready to fight. I could still feel the presence of... whatever that thing was and every time I heard a rustle or a creak, my neck would grow hot and I would remember the feeling of my oxygen being cut off.

I was leading the way because Piper didn't have any control over fire, unlike me. I tried not to think about the fact that the attack would come at me first. I took a turn and we walked about twenty steps before I stopped and Piper bumped into me.

We came up at a dead end. I turned my head and looked at Piper, "I don't supposed your ability extend to charm-speaking brick walls?"

"Unfortunatley, no."

"Can you climb them?"

"Leo, what do you think-" Piper was cut short by a muted thump. "Is there any chance that that is just a large rodent?" she asked hopefully.

"It must be the mother of all rodents, then," I said.

"Leo, we're at a dead end." Piper stated.

"No kidding." I said in '_well, duh_' voice.

"No, I mean, we're at a _dead end_." she said. She didn't mean dead end as 'My gods, this is a terrible inconvinience. Now we have turn around!', she meant dead end as in we have nowhere to escape.

"It's time to learn how to scale a wall." I told her.

"Leo, that'll never work." she tried to tell me.

"Then what do you suggest we do, Beauty Queen?" I asked. I heard another thump and my hairs stood on an end.

"Fight?"

"Well, it doesn't look like we have a choice." I said.

Then Percy stepped into the light from my hand. Or really my whole body at this point. When he saw us he let out a dignified cry of surprise, "What are you doing here?"

"What are _you_ doing here?" I asked.

"I saw a light, so I followed it." he explained.

"How long have you been following us?" Piper asked.

"About two minutes." he said. I don't know if I should be glad that Percy wasn't the person who strangled me, or worried because the person was still out there somewhere, lurking in the shadows.

"Have you... seen anyone else?" I asked.

He gave me a weird look, "Why would anyone else be in a dark alley at ten in the night?"

"You're here." Piper pointed out.

"I'm not an average person. You wouldn't believe how bad my luck is." he told us.

I gestured to my body which was still engulfed in flames, "Do _I_ look like your 'average person'?"

"Good point," Percy said, "So how are we getting out of here?"

I pointed at the wall, "We were going to climb it."

Percy looked at Piper as if to confirm that I was off my rocker.

"He's kidding," Piper said, trying to convince herself more than anything.

"We could go back the way we came." Percy suggested.

"Fine," I grumbled, "Let's take the easy way."

WHERE DID ANNABETH AND JASON GO? I HAVE NO IDEA. REVIEW AND SUGGEST ANY... SUGGESTIONS. I FINALLY HAD A CHANCE TO UPDATE! I THINK THIS IS GOING TO BE A LONG STORY...


	19. Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN: GAEA HAS A FEW TRICKS UP HER SLEEVES

I WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL OF YOU THAT REVIEW THIS STORY. YOU MAKE MY DAY TEN TIMES BETTER! ALL YOUR REVIEWS ARE SO NICE! ALSO, THIS STORY HAS HAD OVER 27 000 HITS. _27 000!_ THAT'S CRAZY AND I'M NOT EVEN EXAGGERATING! BY THE WAY, IF YOU WANT TO CRITICIZE ME, THEN DO SO, BUT DON'T TELL ME IT'S NOT A FLAME. THAT JUST TICKS ME OFF. **I CAN HANDLE YOU BAD-MOUTHING MY STORY BUT DON'T TRY TO MAKE YOURSELF FEEL BETTER BY CONVINCING YOURSELF THAT IT ISN'T A FLAME. **I APOLOGIZE FOR RANTING, BUT I NEED TO MAKE IT CLEAR THAT YOU CAN'T JUST DO THAT.

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PJO OR HOO, RICK RIORDAN DOES. I OWN THE PLOT. DON'T STEAL IT. **

**PIPER MCLEAN'S POV**

I was scared out of my mind. We were stuck inside an alley. An _alley_. How we managed to do that, I don't know.

It was dark and we were using Leo to light out way, but I knew that he was tired; keeping himself lit up was burning a lot of fuel. Literally.

"I need a break." Leo told us. He sat down and extinguished the flames that were dancing across his body, but kept his hands lit up.

"This place goes on forever." Percy said, leaning against a brick wall.

We had been walking a long time and even though Leo and I were sure that we were walking back the same way we had come, it seemed to be taking way longer. I swear we even managed to walk in a circle once or twice.

"Yeah," Leo agreed. "It's almost like we're in a maze or something.

Percy and I exchanged a look. That's exactly what it was. There was a maze in the middle of a Roman city.

Leo looked at us. "What? The maze thing? I was just kidding."

Percy sighed, "It can't be that bad. I mean, I've been in worse... conditions."

"Like what?" Leo asked.

"The Labyrinth. Of course it crumbled two years ago."

"You mean the really complex maze? But that's a myth." Leo protested.

"The same way the gods are a myth?" Percy asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Good point. I guess we better get moving before some-"

We heard two muffled voices in the distance. A male and a female.

I don't know why nobody moved. I would have at least expected someone to shout "RUN!" or something, but the three of us stayed still. We did, however, take out weapons. Percy uncapped his sword, I unsheathed my knife, and Leo took out a deadly looking hammer from his magical tool belt.

"Why would you follow him?" I heard the female voice ask.

"Why would you follow _me_?" The male voice countered. They were getting closer, which couldn't possibly be a good thing.

"I-I can't tell you." the female voice said.

"I can't tell you either. I might... endanger someone."

The voices sounded oddly familiar and Leo had a look on his face like he recognized the voices too. Good, I wasn't crazy.

Percy muttered something under his breath but I couldn't hear.

"You guys stay here." Percy darted across the alley and turned a corner were the voices were coming from before Leo or I could even process where he was going.

"He just ran off to his death." Leo said.

"Yeah, that was stupid." I agreed. "Maybe being stupid is a trait all demigods share."

Leo shook his head. "Not stupid. Insane."

I couldn't argue with him. "Did you recognize-"

"-The voices? Yeah."

"Should we follow him?" I asked.

"That would be the friendly thing to do."

We turned the corner and I ran right into Annabeth. She fell forward into Percy's arms while I clutched my head.

"Ouch." I mumbled. I turned to Annabeth, "Sorry about that."

She looked a little dazed, "Uh, it's okay."

Leo scrunched his eyebrows together. "You fine? Because if you have a bloody nose, I really don't think you can afford to get uglier, Beauty Queen."

"Speak for yourself." I told him.

He gestured to Annabeth and then to Jason who was standing in a corner watching me, "I told you I wasn't kidding."

I glared at him and if looks could kill, Leo would have dropped dead.

Percy turned to Jason and Annabeth and asked, "Did you guys get lost in here, too?"

Jason and Annabeth looked at each other and seemed to share a silent conversation. I found this weird because they were never really close.

"No." Annabeth answered. "We were... following... you."

Percy stayed silent for a moment as he registered what she had just said. "Following me? Why?"

"Well, actually, I was following Jason who was following you."

"That's creepy." Leo commented. "And strangle because Piper and I started following you guys, too."

"You made me come with you." I pointed out.

"Whatever, that's not the point. Why was everybody following each other?"

"I was going to warn Percy." Jason said.

Percy's eyes got wide. "About _what_?"

"That's... what I was going to do, but I was going to warn you." Annabeth told Jason. My heart dropped. Was Jason in danger?

"Did your warning have to do with... _her_?" Jason asked. Annabeth look really scared for a second before she nodded.

"Who is "her"?" Leo asked. I felt sick. "Her" was a Gaea. And she must not be happy.

Nobody answered his question and Leo understood after about thirty second. I could tell because his face went pale and the blood drained form his face.

"You mean G-Ga-" Annabeth clamped a hand over Leo's mouth.

"Don't speak her name." she hissed.

Leo nodded and Annabeth removed her hand.

Percy spoke next, "There are five of us here. All from the prophecy. That can't be a coincidence."

"At least Frank and Hazel aren't here." Leo said cheerfully.

"Yeah," I agreed, "Hazel's in the infirmary."

We spoke too soon because Hazel and Frank turned a corner with their weapons out. Hazel was good as new and she didn't have any serious injuries. They carried two flashlights, which must have been useful in the dark. All we got was Leo.

"Wh-What are you guys doing here?" Hazel asked.

"Wait, why are you here?" Annabeth asked.

"I got a note and Frank wouldn't let me go alone." Hazel told us.

"I got a note too." Percy said. That didn't make anyone feel better.

Everyone's eyes were filled with worry and fear. This was a trap. Gaea planned this.

"We need to get out of here." Jason decided.

"Gee, you think?" Leo asked sarcastically.

"But how?" Frank asked. "It's twelve at night and I do _not_ want to camp here."

"Can we send a flare or something? Will someone see it?" Percy asked.

"Where are we supposed to get a flare?" Hazel asked.

Leo reached into his toolbelt and mumbled something. He sighed after a couple seconds. "No flares."

"We don't need a flare." Annabeth said. She looked at Jason, "We've got something better."

PAGE BREAK

Everyone was soaked. Yeah, Jason had created lightning, but he also caused a storm cloud to rain over us. Everyone, other than Percy, was shivering.

"What could Gaea possibly have wanted from us? Did she plan to destroy us when we were altogether?" I asked.

"I don't know," Jason answered, "But I don't really want to find out.

"We need to split up." Annabeth decided. "It will be easier to find an exit and once we do that we can send help for the other half. Also..."

We all knew what she was thinking. The seven of us would be separated, so if Gaea was planning to kill us we wouldn't _all_ die.

Everybody nodded in agreement.

"The groups will be uneven though. We'll go three and four." Annabeth told us.

Percy sorted them out. "Hazel, Frank, Annabeth, and I will be the first group. Piper, Leo, and Jason will be the other."

I figured Percy was smarter than he looked because those groups were perfect. He couldn't possibly have known who worked well with who, but he did. Maybe a side effect from saving the world, I don't know.

Jason was at my side in two seconds. "C'mon Leo."

"Dude, I was catching my breath." Leo complained as he got up. He brushed his pants off and walked towards us.

"Okay." Annabeth said. "I guess we'll get going then."

We separated, each group taking a different path.

"Jason," I said, "What exactly we're you and Annabeth... talking about?"

"Nothing."

"It can't be that bad." Leo said.

"I said it was nothing, Leo."

"I'm just saying-"

"Drop it, Leo." Jason said trying to control his anger. "I can't tell you."

"Calm down before you give someone a thousand volt shock." Leo said. That wasn't the right thing to say.

"You don't get it, do you? If I tell you we _all_ die!" Jason yelled at Leo which made me jump.

He walked in front of Leo and me and started leading us which was a mistake since he couldn't see where he was going. He hit a garbage bin and let out a string of cuss words.

Leo and I dropped back out of earshot.

"Something's not right." I said.

"No kidding. He would normally brush off a comment like that." Leo said. "I think he's going to fry me."

"What do we do?"

"Stay out of his way?" Leo offered. "Otherwise I'll become a Leo-kebab."

PAGEBREAK

We had been walking for an hour and Leo's light was getting dimmer. We didn't have much time left. We had all tripped over various items hidden in the dark including a raccoon carcass (Leo swears he's going to burn his shoes once we get out of here). We all had multiple injuries. We were all tired.

"I vote we give up." Leo said.

"You want to die here?" Jason asked.

"It's better than some deaths." Leo said playfully. I couldn't even correct him because he was right.

Jason just stared at him.

"Okay, so we're not in a happy mood. Understood."

Jason sighed. "Look, I know I'm all uptight and everything right now, but you guys have no idea how much danger we're in. If we don't find the exit then we might-"

"Found it!" Leo called out. He opened a door that I would have passed without a second look.

I couldn't see well, but I was pretty sure it was a bookstore.

"No way." Leo called out. He was already raiding a shelf full of maps. "There's a map. For the alley-maze thing."

"You're kidding." Jason said incredulously.

"Is this a face that looks like it's kidding?" Leo asked. I was about to say 'Yeah, actually it does' when Leo said, "Don't answer that."

"That's great!" I said. "We just use it to find Percy's group. Except..."

Jason groaned. "We don't know where they are anymore."

"Now what?" I asked glumly.

"We could always go back into the maze." Leo grinned like he had just told a halarious joke. "But that would be like trying to kill ourselves. We would just get lost again."

Jason shrugged. "We almost die on a daily basis. This can't be anymore horrifying."

"I was just kidding!" Leo protested.

"Second great idea today, Leo. You're getting smarter."

"Or crazier." Jason added.

"When you're me, you can't get any crazier." Leo grumbled. "Now let's go before I begin to regret not keeping my mouth shut."

I HAVE A QUESTION. SHOULD I FIND AN ENDING FOR THIS STORY WITHIN, LIKE, SEVEN OR EIGHT CHAPTERS? I DON'T MEAN AN ENDING ENDING, BUT LIKE AN ENDING FOR MY VERSION. BECAUSE THIS STORY IS GOING TO GO ON FOREVER IF I KEEP THIS PACE AND THE MARK OF ATHENA WILL ALREADY BE OUT. I'LL PROBABLY END IT ONCE THEY GET THEIR QUEST OR SOMETHING. OR AFTER THEY REACH ROME. IS THAT OKAY WTH YOU GUYS?


	20. Chapter 20

**IMPORTANT MESSAGE:**

**THIS STORY IS TEMPORARILY ON HOLD**

I'm so sorry to do this to you guys, but this story is on hold for a couple weeks. I really don't want to do this, but I've got problems to deal with and I can't handle writing on top of everything else. I should be back on track by September. So, incase you were wondering why I hadn't updated in forever. Again, I'm so sorry for leaving you hanging like that.

-mythologymaniac


	21. Chapter 21

CHAPTER TWENTY: SETTING SAIL

OH GOD, YOU GUYS ARE GONNA MURDER ME. I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN FOREVER AND I APOLOGIZE. A LOT HAS BEEN GOING ON AND I HAVE VERY LITTLE TIME FOR MYSELF. OKAY, SO YOU'RE GOING TO MURDER ME TIMES TWO BECAUSE I LIED AND THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER. I DON'T REALLY WANT IT TO BE THE LAST, BUT THERE ARE TWO MAIN REASONS WHY. 1) THE MARK OF ATHENA HAS ALREADY COME OUT AND MOST PEOPLE WILL PROBABLY LOSE INTEREST IN THIS AND 2) I KNOW THAT I WON'T HAVE TIME TO UPDATE REGULARLY AND I DON'T WANT TO LEAVE YOU GUYS WAITING FOREVER SO THIS WILL BE IT. AT LEAST IT'S A LONG CHAPTER, RIGHT? I WOULD JUST LIKE TO THANK YOU ALL FOR READING THIS STORY AND STICKING WITH ME THE WHOLE TIME. I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL YOUR REVIEWS AND FEEDBACK. I ENJOYED WRITING THIS AND I'M GLAD I COULD SHARE IT WITH YOU! BY THE WAY, I READ THE ACTUAL MARK OF ATHENA AND I LIKE CRIED. IT WAS SO GOOD. IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT YET THEN YOU DEFINITELY SHOULD. IT IS SOOO GOOD, EVEN IF IT TORE MY FEELS TO SHRED AND FED THEM TO HUNGRY WOLVES.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PJO OR HOO, RICK RIORDAN DOES. DON'T STEAL MY PLOT THOUGH! I WORKED HARD ON IT.

**JASON GRACE'S POV**

If I had to back back into that twisted maze again, I think I would have died. Luckily for me, I didn't have to because just as we were about to leave the little bookstore the others rushed in. Well, to be more accurate, Leo was about to open the door when it flew open and hit him in the face. Annabeth, Hazel, Frank, and Percy ran into the room and Percy slammed the door shut behind him, leaning against it as he controlled his breathing. Then they noticed Leo on the ground with a red welt on his forehead and apologized for face-planting him with a door.

"What are you guys _doing_ here?" Piper said.

"Er, hiding." Hazel supplied with a worried look.

"Do I want to know _what_ you're hiding from?" Leo asked rubbing his head. The poor guy seemed to be the one that always took the damage.

"Who." Annabeth corrected. She removed her bronze dagger from her belt and held it towards us like it was the reason for all the bad luck in the world. "And this is why."

"That explains a lot." Leo muttered under his breath.

"We have weapons in the city." Annabeth told him.

Piper nodded in understanding. "Terminus."

"Your running from _Terminus_?" Leo questioned incredulously.

Everyone ignored his question. "So how did we get in undetected?" I asked.

Annabeth shrugged. "Most likely someone was distracting Terminus."

"Why would they do that?"

"I have no idea." Annabeth admitted unwillingly. She bit her lip and I could tell that she hated not knowing.

"How long do we have until he finds us?" Frank asked.

Annabeth frowned. "He should have found us by now. Which is worrying since we're unscathed."

That when the pounding started on the door. Percy was the first to react, shoving a chair under the knob. _Go_, he mouthed at us, moving towards the back door. We followed as quickly as we could. I was the last out, with enough time to see dozens of Romans flood into the shop. At the front was none other than Octavian.

Many thoughts raced through my head from _Run!_ to _How?_ to _Must kill scrawny weasel kid. _I decided to warn my friends by yelling "Run!" which must have been helpful considering that they were doing that anyways.

"The ship!" Leo cried out.

"I'm sure your ship is fine Leo!" Percy assured him as we sprinted down the street, our sneakers thudding against the hard pavement. I took the lead as we came to an opening in the alley. We took a turn onto the main street which was a relief because I finally knew where we were.

"No!" Leo screamed. "_Go_ to the ship."

I decided to sprint in the general direction of the warship, but the seven of us didn't count on the Romans doing the same thing. I knew that we were being herded, but our best option was to get as close to the ship as possible.

"Octavian?" Piper screeched. That made everyone turn back to see what she was talking about.

"Don't look. Keep running." I encouraged them.

"But-but... how?" Hazel wheezed. We were all breathing heavy, but the adrenaline rushing through our veins kept us going.

"Questions later." Percy answered, glancing around at our surroundings.

I was glad that the rest of the Romans didn't have weapons because we were in spear-throwing distance now.

"Get the Hunters and Cabin leaders!" Piper cried out over the mob behind us. We didn't have to because they were one step ahead of us. I could see them in the far distance boarding the Argo II. I wish I could be along with them, but we had a crowd to outrun.

Percy swerved to the left to avoid being ht with a ceramic plate. I heard it shatter agaainst the ground a split-second later.

"Nice reflexes, man." I complimented as we neared the warship.

"Thanks." Percy said. "They come in handy with flying cutlery and dish-ware." I couldn't tell if he was kidding or not.

We were a couple hundred yards away from the ship when we were surrounded. Just our luck.

The only advantage that we had were out weapons, but the Romans had found makeshift tools of death for themselves such as: bricks, large pieces of driftwood, chairs, and my personal favorite, a can of cheese spray.

"What now?" Frank asked.

"The fountain, Percy." Annabeth hissed under her breath. Percy got the message and sprayed a good twenty Romans with water from a near-by fountain. This distracted them enough to let us dodge between them with minimal injuries.

"Jason, fly Leo up there and get him to control the ship!" Piper yelled.

I grabbed Leo by his tool belt and shot us up towards the sky. I dropped him on the deck and dove over the edge to grab someone else. I saw a bald eagle with its talons hooked into Hazel's shirt and Piper's jacket as I flew down. I almost went to help them before I realized they seemed pretty calm about it. I figured the eagle must have been Frank. I've heard that he could change form, but I hadn't really seen it happen before. I've got to admit, it was pretty awesome.

At the bottom, trying to get to the ladder, was Percy and Annabeth. I reached Annabeth and offered to help her to the top, but she just growled, "I'm not leaving Percy!" so I decided to defend them as they made their way up the ladder.

Percy was clutching onto the first rung when I heard Octavian's high pitched voice pierce through the crys of the mob, "Kill them! Kill them all! They disgraced New Rome by smuggling their weapons into the city!"

So the little twerp was behind all this. I promised right then and there that I would come back to teach him a lesson. _If_ I made it back from Greece. I glanced at Percy who was halfway up and then at Annabeth who was a couple rungs up the ladder.

Then Octavian threw a hammer at Annabeth, who was preoccupied with getting up the ladder. It made contact with her leg. Her knees gave way and she flew fifteen feet to the ground. She rolled on her side, but she couldn't control her fall and she ended up hitting her head against the hard ground.

After I recovered from shock, I grabbed her by the waist and started flying her unconscious form up toward the deck before any Romans could get to her. I thanked the gods that Annabeth had the sense to cushion her fall, or she could be dead right now.

I pasted Percy on the way and I swear he nearly lost his grip when he saw Annabeth. His face went white and I was worried that I would have to fly him up too.

"Keep going. I got her!" I called to him. He nodded and kept climbing.

Once I reached the deck I gently placed Annabeth on the deck just as Percy flung himself onboard.

"All aboard?" Leo asked.

"Just go!" Hazel cried out. Leo did exactly that. I could tell the ship was moving up and away from New Rome. I slumped against the mast in exhaustion and watched uselessly as Percy and Hazel gave Annabeth medical attention. I drifted off into darkness after a couple seconds.

**ANNABETH CHASE'S POV**

I felt like someone had dunked my head into the River Styx.

I was in a bed, on my back, with a thin blanket covering my body. I groaned and rolled onto my side. I felt the warship lurch beneath me, tilting downwards. I tried to get up, but my body felt like lead.

"Watch it, Wise Girl."

"Percy? Is that you?" I asked, my words slurred together.

He grabbed my hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Yeah, its me."

I sighed. "How bad?"

He furrowed his brows together and I was tempted to smack him for being stupid.

"My injuries, Seaweed Brain. And don't bother sugar-coating it."

"Er, you have a bruised hip bone, nothing you can't handle, and a sprained wrist, but it's your left one so you should be okay. You just fell on it. Really hard." he told me. "Oh, and your calf is bruised because it had the pleasure of making acquaintance with a hammer."

I tried to nod, but my head flared in pain. Percy winced. "How's your head?"

"Fine." I said, gritting my teeth through the pain.

"Don't bother lying; you've got an ugly bump on the side of your head." he said, gingerly touching his fingers to my right temple. The feel of his cool hands against my skin was soothing.

He gave me a concerned look with he green eyes. "They say you don't have a concussion, but I made them check again. Three times."

I wanted to hug him so badly, just for being a cute, worried boyfriend, but my injuries withheld me. "Thanks." I managed.

"No prob. I was just worried that you would be grouchier than normal." he smirked. I take back anything nice I've ever said about him. I gave him a solid I'm-going-to-kill-you glare. "It's nice to see that your injuries don't prevent you from giving me the evil eye."

I rolled my eyes, which, by the way, made my headache worse.

Percy handed me a glass of nectar. "That should help. A little."

I took the drink gratefully and drained the glass.

"Rest up. We've got a meeting later. Everyone's waiting for you." Percy told me.

"Why didn't you just have it without me?"

Percy bit back a smile.

"What? What's so funny?" I asked.

"You don't even see how everyone looks up to you." he said.

"Oh. They look up to me?" I asked quietly.

"Of course!" he assured me. "They were going to have the meeting tomorrow, but you made good progress so they changed it to noon."

"Noon?" I echoed. It had been about six in the morning when we made out great escape. "What time is it now?"

"Three." Percy answered warily.

"AM?" I shrieked. "How long have I been out?"

"Nearly a day. But you're much better now."

Much better? I don't even want to know the shape I was in yesterday.

I turned my head to look at Percy who was sitting in a wooden chair when I noticed dark bags under his eyes. I narrowed my eyes at him. "When was the last time you slept?"

"I can't remember, to be honest." he admitted.

"Percy!"

"Oh, I dozed off for and hour or two in that armchair." he offered, pointing to the corner of the room where an ugly armchair that was upholstered in green plaid sat. I have no idea what Leo was thinking when he put that there.

"Have you been here the whole time?" I demanded.

"Well..."

"Percy, tell me the truth."

"Yeah, I was waiting for you to wake up."

"You are a complete hypocrite!" I yelled at him, trying to ignore the throbbing in my head.

"What? How?" he asked.

"How can you possibly tell me to get some rest when you're not sleeping at all?"

He made a face at me and then sighed. "Fine, here's the deal. If you go to sleep, then I will, too."

I thought about his for a second before I agreed. "Are you going to your room-"

"I'm staying here. Right by your side. I'm not leaving you." he said. If I'm not mistaken, there was an undertone to his voice that said he felt guilty for being demigod-knapped. I looked- like, really looked- into his eyes and they were overflowing with emotion.

"Percy, it wasn't your fault. Stop beating yourself up." I comforted him.

He nodded, but I could tell he didn't believe me. "Close your eyes, Wise Girl."

I didn't argue. I fell asleep with Percy next to me, holding my hand.

PAGE BREAK

I somehow managed to drag myself to the meeting room, with Percy's help. He did manage to make me stub my toe against a wall, but I would get back at him for that later.

Everyone else was already seated at the long table. Well, actually, most of the Hunters and cabin leaders weren't present, but everyone that was absolutely needed was there.

"Sleep well?" Leo asked, smirking. He sat at the head kf the table.

Piper sighed. "He walked in on you and Percy sleeping."

"Oh." I said as I felt my cheeks heat up. No one was supposed to see that.

"It's no big deal really." Piper said. She spoke, but seemed to be paying attention to Jason more than anything. I just hoped they got together soon. Might as well be a couple for as long as they can. "Leo's just a dope."

"I know you love me, Piper."

"So what are we here for?" I continued, taking a seat across from Frank.

"To discuss our journey to Rome." Jason told me.

"And the epic catastrophe that took place yesterday." Percy guessed

"We all know the problem there." Hazel scowled. "Octavian."

"Wait. Hold up. What _exactly_ did he do?" Piper asked.

"Well, you know how we somehow got into New Rome with weapons?" Jason said. "He must have been behind it. He probably distracted Terminus when we entered the boundaries."

"So we could 'break the rules'." Leo added. "That's pretty smart."

"And then we would be known as enemies for bringing weapons into the city." Hazel scrunched up her eyebrows in concentration.

"The Romans would have no choice, but to attack us." I finished. "Which they did, of course."

"Octavian probably didn't plan on us getting away." Leo grinned.

"He was under guard. Obviously, he got away from his confined room somehow." Piper said. "He must have accomplices."

"It doesn't matter now. We need to focus on what we're going to do know." I said.

"Go to Rome, fulfill the prophecy of The Mark of Athena, find out where Hazel's brother is, go to Greece, kick Gaea's butt- if she has one- and go home without dying." Leo supplied. "All while looking cool in a flying warship."

"Thank-you, Admiral Idiocy." Piper said. "But we already had that part planned."

"I guess we just go with the flow." Jason said. He turned to Leo. "Where are we right now?"

"Flying over New York. We should be over the Atlantic in about an hour." Leo answered, fiddling with his tablet that controlled the ship. "Did you want to make a stop at Camp Half-Blood?"

Everybody turned to me. I bit my lip. What was I supposed to say? Of course I really wanted to go there, but the smart thing to do was fly over. "Skip it. We can't waste any time."

I saw Percy's face drop slightly. He must really miss camp.

"Alright then. Off to Rome we go."

I walked over to one of the circular windows on the ship and looked out at Manhattan. I sighed. This was the last chance for me to back out, but I knew I couldn't. I wouldn't. The world needed me, and this is what I've been training for.

The prophecy, Gaea, my nightmares, they were all so real now that Rome was so close. The fate of the world rested in the hands of seven teenagers, and I'm not really sure if that's a good thing. Everyone makes mistakes, but one mistake from us and the world might as well explode.

Percy gave my hand a squeeze and smiled at me. "We'll be fine. Don't worry."

I nodded and took in the view of New York until it faded away. We were over the Atlantic Ocean, away from safety. We were on our own now.

Our quest had officially begun.

AGAIN, SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING. PLEASE DON'T KILL ME, I STILL NEED TO UPDATE MY OTHER STORIES AND I'M SURE THOSE READERS WANT A FAIR PIECE OF ME TO YELL AT AS WELL. REVIEW AND TELL ME WHAT TOY THOUGHT OF THIS STORY AS A WHOLE. I'M SO GLAD THAT I COULD WRITE THIS FOR YOU GUYS! I WANT YOU ALL TO KNOW THAT I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH AND I COULDN'T HAVE ASKED FOR BETTER READERS! SO THIS IS ME SAYING PEACE OUT AND I LOVE YOU! 3


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